Black Reaper
by Vengfulfate
Summary: Tragedy leads to a fall from grace. A sister is lost and another loses her way. Innocence is corrupted. Friends and lovers try to pick up the pieces left behind. Dark days dawn in the wake of sorrow. My second published work and an attempt at a darker story. Some gore, but nothing too excessive.
1. Act 1: Ch 1

**IMPORTANT A/N: I'm going to be uploading 6 chapters to this story today. if you caught it before i uploaded them all, they will be here momentarily. I call it 'act 1'. Please finish all 6 chapters before passing any judgments, and give feedback on whether you would like to see more of this story. Thank you for your consideration.**

* * *

Act 1  
The Fall

"Blaake!" Velvet Scarlatina called her friend's attention as she sprinted across the cafeteria. Blake Belladonna noticed shy rabbit girl was unusually excited. There were few possible reasons for her exceptionally good mood. She could rule out 'being able to use her awesome totally-supposed-to-be-a-secret weapon' since they were safely at Beacon. For such a timid girl, she did enjoy using it. "She said yes!"

 _There it is_ , Blake smiled. "I could have told you she would. When did you ask?"

"Just now, actually!" Velvet just couldn't calm down. "I can't believe she actually said yes!"

"Careful, you're starting to sound like your _girlfriend._ " Blake tossed in the tease to make her friend flush red. She certainly achieved the desired result. "Wait, if you just asked, where is she?" Blake realized. Velvet face darkened another shade. "You didn't ditch her and run to tell me."

"I was really excited…" Velvet replied quietly.

"Velvet!" Blake was shocked. "Go back to her, now!"

"Velvet! Blake? Blake! Velvet!" Ruby Rose rushed through the cafeteria towards them.

"Speak of the devil, I suppose. This doesn't free you." Blake told her rabbit friend.

"Veeelvet!" Ruby yelled one last time as she approached the faunus duo. She stopped short in front of them to catch her breath. "Why did you run? Wasn't 'yes' the right answer?"

"I just got excited, I had to tell someone. It is still a yes?" Velvet was afraid her actions just cost her her girlfriend of five minutes.

Ruby smiled and answered, "Of course it is!"

Blake smiled as the couple before dissolved into a mushy mess. Velvet and Ruby took the same elective, Weapon Mechanics or Weapon Engineering or something along those lines. They eventually began talking, and really hit it off apparently. After three weeks of hearing Velvet talk about Ruby and visa-versa, Blake got fed up and decided to tell the next party to gush to her to ask the other out already. Turned out it was Velvet.

As Blake was reminiscing the world stopped. Everything around her froze and turned gray. Everything except for Ruby's eyes. The irises glowed a bright and familiar red, heating the space around the girls. The cafeteria hall suddenly erupted in flames. Voices called to their friends, the entire scene was chaos, and Blake recognized it. She quickly turned to where she knew her friends were. Yang was already on the ground, and that meant…

"RUBY!" Velvets voice reverberated through the landscape.

* * *

Blake shouted the same name and she shot up from the bed, dripping in sweat. She couldn't even use memories to make good dreams. Everything turned into the same nightmare. "Blake, you okay?" Weiss sat up from beside the cat girl on the same bed.

"Yeah… just dreams." Blake answered.

"At least that means you got some sleep tonight." Weiss considered it a small victory and kissed Blake's forehead before getting up and getting ready for the day. "Taiyang insisted we stay for dinner. We'll probably be spending the night too." Weiss informed her, despite having already packed for both of them.

"I'll let Velvet know, she wants to come with. I already told her she could, if you don't mind." Blake just remembered she hadn't already told Weiss.

"It wouldn't be fair to turn her down." Weiss responded. "I was going to ask her anyway, I thought she might want to tag along."

Blake nodded and looked around the dorm room. The bunk beds stood proud, well, except Ruby's. But if ever a bed could hang proud, this one did a fine job of it. Despite the four beds, only one was ever used anymore. Mostly Blake's, since the heiress still feared Ruby's bed structure was a wooden guillotine in waiting.

Despite the similarities, a lot had changed in a year… Yang and Ruby's beds were empty every night, for one. The last of team RWBY were unofficially and informally merged with team JNPR to continue their schooling, which was now nearing the end of its second year, though Weiss and Blake were still allowed to sleep in RWBY dorm. Blake had even stopped wearing her bow, though whether it was from pride or it was just too much to put it on every day after everything that happened, even the cat girl didn't know.

Weiss noticed Blake's unease. "What's on your mind?"

"Everything's different." Blake answered.

Weiss probably could have guessed that answer. She walked up and wrapped her arms around the raven haired girl. "We can get through today, Blake. No matter how it might seem now, it won't hurt forever."

Blake hugged the heiress back. "Weiss… do you think this is a mistake?"

"Going to Patch?" Weiss asked.

"No…" Blake answered softly. "I mean us. Would we have happened if it weren't for everything? So much sadness, and we threw ourselves into each other to avoi-" She was interrupted by flick on the forehead.

"Blake Belladonna, stop that." Weiss scolded. "However we came together, we _are_ together now. You are not just a coping mechanism. I love you. I know it."

Blake smiled weakly. "You're right. I'm sorry, it's just all this…"

"I understand." Weiss assured.

Blake kissed Weiss and rested their foreheads together. "I love you too."

* * *

Team JNPR and Coco saw Weiss, Blake, and Velvet off at the landing pads. "Be safe, all of you." Jaune told them.

"We're just going to Patch." Velvet responded. "We'll be fine."

"Still. It's been a weird year." Coco spoke up. "You're sure you don't want me to come?"

"I can handle myself." Velvet told her leader.

"So could Yang." Coco said, and immediately regretted it. "I'm sorry, that wasn't right."

"Like you said," Weiss spoke next, "It's been a weird year."

Everyone said their goodbyes and the ships doors closed. "Ruby once told me Patch is beautiful this time of year." Velvet spoke up, trying to make a conversation to pass the time.

"You've never been?" Weiss asked.

"There was the funeral, but the snow had already fallen by the time it was held." Velvet answered.

"I was here during the summer one year, with my father." Weiss spoke. "We spent most of our time in the cities. But the climate was right, I imagine the forest is very beautiful. Have you ever been, Blake?"

"Never, other than the funeral." Blake answered.

"Maybe we can take advantage of the nice weather." The heiress suggested. "Have a picnic or something." _Do something nice in spite of all this depression._ The two other girls nodded in agreement of both the spoken and unspoken statements.

"Landing soon in Patch, ETA less than two minutes." The pilot announced over the speakers. The girls buckled and readied themselves for landing. The last few seconds were always very shaky, many a careless Beacon student fell out of there seat during their first landing of a flight. At last, the trip was over, the doors were opening, and the trio breathed their first breath of Patch air.

"Hey girls!" Taiyang shouted from his vehicle. Weiss noted that he was scruffier than she remembered. Though there were plenty of reasons for him to lack a bit of personal hygiene in recent months. "Weiss, Blake. Velvet? Didn't expect to see you. The more the merrier! Hop on in!" The girls piled in and the car took off. "So, are we going home, or do you want to be dropped right off?"

"It's late in the afternoon." Blake noted. "I'd like it to still be sunlight." Taiyang nodded and drove towards the cliff. They got as far as the car could take them and the girls got out. Blake looked back at Taiyang, who hadn't even unbuckled. "Are you not coming?"

"I go often enough on my own…" he grieved, "I'll keep the car warm."

Just a short walk away was the three girls' destination, a cliff overlooking the sea. A stone plaque was set there, marked 'Summer Rose', and just next to it was another, this one marked 'Yang Xiao Long'. The girls came to a stop in front of the latter. Today was the anniversary of her death, exactly a year ago. They all said what they came to say, with only Velvet saying her words aloud. "I know I didn't know you as well as others… but I still considered you my friend, and I will miss you. Everyone misses you… I hope wherever you are, they let you fight. Before they learn firsthand how foolish it is to try and hold you back."

The three girls shared a short chuckle and began the reminiscing on the way back to the car. When they reached the vehicle Taiyang joined in, and even Velvet had a story or two to offer. By the time they reached the house, they were all smiles. Sad smiles, sure, but baby steps would get them there eventually. Good smells were already wafting from the kitchen. Taiyang used a slow cooker so he didn't have to stay until it was done, in anticipation of the girls' arrival.

"Dinner will be ready in five." He told them.

"We'll just set our stuff down." Weiss told him, and she and Blake set off for the guest bedroom. Velvet followed them into the hallway, stopping at the closed door to another room. After a moment's hesitation, she slowly opened the door and stepped through to the room within. Ruby's room looked the same as the last time Velvet was in here, if a bit cleaner. She sat on the bed and looked around, taking it all in.

Taiyang stepped quietly into the room, though not quietly enough for a faunus not to notice. "You haven't heard from her either, have you?" he asked. Velvet's head hug low in response. "I assume you'll be staying in here?"

"I was hoping to, if that's okay." The rabbit faunus answered.

"It's your room too, as far as I see it. I'll see you at the table, Velvet." He turned and left Velvet alone in the room once more. She pulled out her weapon and used an interface to cycle through her currently saved weapon copies. She stopped on a familiar high-impact sniper-scythe. Every time she used a copy, she would lose it unless she could take another picture. Ruby had let her copy Crescent Rose as much as the faunus needed, but now she refused to use it. It felt like this last wisp was the only piece of her girlfriend Velvet had left.

"Where are you, Ruby…?" She asked the picture on the display. "I miss you…"

After a pleasant dinner, Weiss and Blake returned to the guest room. "It feels weird being here again." Blake thought out loud. "Without either of them, I feel like I'm intruding."

"Taiyang insisted we stay." Weiss reminded her. "Did you see his room? I don't think he sleeps here very often himself anymore."

"Too many memories…" Blake theorized.

"Speaking of…" Weiss wanted to say something for some time, and now seemed as good as ever. "I'm thinking, when we get back to Beacon, we should take the bunks down."

Blake eyed Weiss questioningly. "What? Why?"

"We can never move on if we don't let go." Weiss explained. "Yang's gone, Blake."

Weiss was right, of course. She was always right. "What about Ruby? If she comes back, she'll need a place to sleep." Blake resisted.

The heiress drew her girlfriend into a soft hug. "Blake, it's been three months without the single, smallest sign. I don't think she's coming back." The cat faunus cursed under her breath. Weiss was always right. This wasn't the first time Blake wished to hell she wasn't, but she always was.

* * *

In the shadows of Vale's back alleys, a faunus was running scared. The deer man was an ex-member of the White Fang, which had been all but disbanded nearly a year ago. He foolishly thought he could leave that past behind him now. But it had caught up with him. Why else would some crazy girl with an oversized scythe be hunting him down? That thing was definitely a hunters (or rather, huntresses) weapon.

He went to turn the corner, but was stopped short as a shot rang out, the bullet hitting the ground inches from his feet. He jumped backwards, away from the impact, and tripped over his own feet in the process. He landed ass first on the concrete with his back against a dumpster. A shadow fell from the rooftops, landing in the allay facing the faunus man. It was the shadow chasing him, the girl with the scythe. It seemed the latest local rumors were true. This girl was a grim reaper, with so much bloodlust, even her eyes were red.

She flashed forward in an instant, burying the blade of her scythe into the dumpster mere millimeters away from the deer man's neck. It was all true; the girl's eyes glowed red. He had tried to fight back at first, but each hit he landed only seemed to make the girl stronger and angrier. He should have known how foolish it was from the start, he should have just run. She might have forgotten about him and let him go.

But he had tried to fight, by the time he was faced with the choice of running or dying where he stood, she was beyond pissed. It was too late for him now. "Please, I'm sorry," He decided to beg through his now shaky voice, "Please, don't kill me. Have mercy, please!"

The girl's rationality was shot, her thoughts scrambled by what she called the Red Haze, periods of time where her anger overrode her sanity. With a growl, she pulled the trigger. The recoil from the weapon's sniper function launched the blade through and out of the thin metal of the dumpster, severing the deer man's head in the process. _Have mercy. Heroes have mercy. But heroes only exist in fairy tales. Mercy only ends in tragedy._ These thoughts and the image of bloody blonde figure were the only things that could penetrate the Red Haze.

Looking over the still warm body, the girl's boiling blood began to calm, and her eyes faded from red to silver. She was starting to get used to the Red Haze. She sometimes wondered how Yang could handle it. She eventually concluded that since the blonde grew up with it, she always knew how to control it. It was a part of her, after all. _It's not a part of me, though. No matter how long I have it, it will never be a_ part _of me. I may never learn how to rein it in…_

The scythe wielder was suddenly distracted by a buzzing on the ground nearby. A black scroll lay there, with a text message from 'a friend', according to the contact name. She picked the device up and read the message, which simply said 'Behind you'. The red girl turned on the spot to see a strange woman with a parasol. Right down to her hair and eyes, the girl seemed to alternate between a pink and brown color scheme.

"You're one of Torchwick's." the scythe girl recognized. She could feel the Red Haze coming again. Twice in one night was really going to make her sore in the morning. The black scroll buzzed in her hand.

'I've been watching you. You don't want to fight Torchwick.' The message said. The scythe girl didn't know if the strange girl was mute, but she was at least putting on the show.

"And why not?" The scythe girl decided to use her voice rather than play with messages.

 _Buzz_ 'Torchwick never held their ideals. Money bought his loyalty. He and I were always survivors, nothing more.'

"Why does that make you any less a target?"

'Because we could be allies.'

"Allies? I'm a huntress. I don't work with criminals."

'Huntresses kill civilians in back alleys?'

"It's not what it looks like…"

'It's exactly what it looks like. An ex-Fang killed in unending revenge. And not the first. Beacon will never take you back now.'

The girl was right. At least, she made enough sense to be right. And the scythe girl hadn't made any progress controlling the Red Haze in the past three months. She could only aim it, and let it run. She was certainly screwed. When the scythe girl didn't respond, the scroll buzzed again.

'Come with me, hear me out. You're already one of us anyway.'

"A criminal?"

'A survivor.'

The scythe girl stared at the device, considering her options. At her current rate, she could never control herself well enough to return to Beacon. Even if she did, there was a lot to keep secret now. For now, she could either continue this, night after night, or work with Torchwick. Survive, and maybe make a living in the process. "What do I call you, friend?" The girl gave her answer.

'Neo' the scroll buzzed, the girl herself wearing a huge smile. 'Shall I call you Ruby?'

"Ruby could never make this choice…" She answered, raising her hood. She thought on the rumors she had heard around town the last couple of week. "Call me Reaper, until I think of something better." Neo nodded, acknowledging Reaper's wishes. "Torchwick's still locked up. Guess we have to break your boss out, Neo. Lead the way."


	2. Act 1: Ch 2

"Oh my god, you two are so cute together!" Yang yelled out.

"As you are constantly reminding us, Yang." Velvet responded.

Ruby and Velvet had been dating for about two months now, and the pair couldn't be happier. One of the things they did was alternate between spending lunch with Ruby's team and spending lunch with Velvet's team. Velvet cherished talking to Blake, and Weiss was actually pretty cool for a Schnee. Yang, however, she could do without. But she had to learn, she couldn't kick her girlfriend's sister out of their lives.

 _That's right, Ruby Rose is my girlfriend._ The thought never failed to bring a smile to Velvet's face. "Whatcha smiling about? I thought you hated Yang's jokes." The young leader asked the rabbit faunus.

"I'll learn to live with them, if it means I get to stay with you" she replied.

"How are you still so mushy after two months?" Ruby asked, turning bright red.

"If you keep with the cute blush, I'll keep with the cheesy lines." Velvet answered.

"Dear lord, we've created a monster." Weiss cut in. "To think I believed you would be the quiet one out of you two."

"Hey girls." Coco spoke up from behind them.

"Coco? Yatsu, Fox?" What are you guys doing?" Velvet asked her leader.

"You spend half your time with these guys these days. I figured it was time we got to know them." Coco answered. The two teams were now sitting together, and began to mingle. It was actually going along well. Coco found it was easy to talk fashion with Weiss, Yang asked Yatsuhashi about strength training and the two soon sounded like old workout buddies. Blake and Fox just kinda stared at each other, but they did so with smiles.

"Hey, Velvs, we gotta go soon." Coco told Velvet near the end of the lunch period.

"Go where?" Ruby asked her girlfriend.

"We have a mission." Velvet answered slowly.

"A mission? Right now? Veeeelvet, why didn't you tell me before?" Ruby pouted.

"I didn't want you to spend all of lunch worrying about me when I hadn't even left yet." Velvet told her. The last time Ruby was a nervous wreck, and spent all of lunch making sure her girlfriend was okay and had everything she needed and whatnot. It was cute to see her so concerned, but still not something Velvet would want in favor of their normal lunch days.

"How long will you be gone?" the younger girl continued questioning.

"It should only take us a week." Velvet said.

"So it'll probably take us two." Coco added.

"I have class, I can't go see you off." Ruby informed her girlfriend. Velvet hugged her close in response.

"I'll miss you too." Velvet stated.

"Be safe and kick butt!" Ruby said with a smile. Velvet smiled back and walked off with her team. Before CFVY got too far, Ruby added, "Don't forget the stuff I taught you if you have to use Crescent Rose!" with a yell.

Velvet smiled and shouted back "I won't! I'll see you soon!"

Team RWBY turned and headed the other direction for their class. Ruby smile fell quickly. "Two weeks…"

"She said it should only take one." Yang reminded her sister.

"That's still one week too long. I didn't even have time to mentally prepare for her being gone." Ruby bemoaned, looking back over her shoulder as if Velvet was still there behind them.

"She'll be fine, you know she's strong." Yang told her. "Cheer up sis. She wouldn't want you depressed the whole time she's gone. Wanna go to the Arcade later?"

Ruby put a small smile on her face. "You're right. I'm soo gunna whup your butt in the Arcade."

Yang smiled in success. "So you think!"

* * *

"She came home complaining about how Ruby, in fact, did 'whup her butt' in every game." Weiss smiled. She, Blake, and Velvet were out on the picnic they had talked about, enjoying the good weather. Taiyang couldn't come because of work.

"Ruby and my names used to be in the top two spots of the high score boards of _every_ machine. I wonder if they still are." Velvet spoke up, thinking about the many dates that took place there.

"Yang definitely picked the wrong battlefield. But she had cheered Ruby up, and that's what was important to her." Blake said.

Velvet smiled. Yang was a good sister, and Ruby had good friends. That mission had in fact taken two weeks, and she expected Ruby to be clingier than normal upon her return. But Yang had kept her mood up the whole time. That day was the start of a more positive relationship between her and the blonde brawler.

The rabbit faunus looked up at Weiss and Blake. "Thank you both for letting me come. Not just the trip, but here too. You could have used it as a date."

"We weren't going to leave you behind." Blake assured her. "You probably need this more than us. I imagine you're hurting a bit more than we are at the moment…" Ruby leaving was indeed a new source of grief for her friends and team mates. But Velvet loved the girl. In a way, it was almost worse that she wasn't dead. At least then, they would know what happened. But all anyone knew was that Ruby was _somewhere_ , but where? They had searched for a month before realizing the girl left no trace.

"We have to pack up soon if we want to make our flight back." Weiss informed them, trying to steer away from the uncomfortable silence. Out of all of them, she was the closest to moving on. Yang had been dead for a year, after all, and Ruby's leaving only made her angry at the young leader. All she wanted to do was pick up the pieces. All she wanted was to make Blake's nightmares stop…

Despite Velvet being closer to Ruby, Blake was the farthest from moving on. It's almost as if she refused to let herself do so. It wouldn't surprise Weiss, however, if that were the case. Everything about her girlfriend got a lot more complicated when Adam was involved, and it was his blade that dealt the fatal blow to Yang. Blake took a share of blame by not stopping Adam all those years ago. Now Ruby was gone too, and it broke her nearly as much as it broke Taiyang…

* * *

Torchwick was still in Ironwood's care, locked on his flagship that was currently hovering over Atlas. Neo had planned to free him during the attack on Beacon, but Ruby and Velvet happened to stumble across her while on a date. Neo had to run, and Cinder and the White Fang were defeated without the help of the Atlesian Knights Torchwick was planning to reprogram. And now Neo was here, about to free him so they could do what they do best. Lie, cheat, steal, and survive. And better yet, Ruby was here to help her.

 _Not Ruby, Reaper_ , Neo reminded herself. If she wanted to keep her new ally, she would have to comply with whatever wishes helped the girl cope. Reaper was currently reading the novel sized text message from the black scroll explaining Neo's plan. "You were really banking on me saying yes. What if I had said no?"

'I knew you would say yes.' Neo confidently responded.

"Because I'm a survivor?" Reaper asked. Neo nodded, happy to forgo typing whenever possible. "My temper's not what it used to be." Neo nodded again, making it plain she knew already. She had factored that into her plan. "When I fly off the handle, you might not be safe." This time Neo was shocked. A questioning glance was sent Reaper's way. "I haven't forgotten your and Torchwick's part in what happened. I can't exactly control myself when my anger gets out of control. You may become targets again during the Red Haze."

 _Great, I probably should have realized that. Too late now._ Neo cursed herself for the temporary shortsightedness. _At least seeing us won't trigger this 'Red Haze' anymore._ The airship they were on came to a stop. They quickly departed before anyone could realize they didn't actually have tickets for the ride they just snuck onto. Reaper felt the bite of the cold and took a look around. This was the first time she had ever been to Atlas. In another life, she may have come here with Weiss to visit the heiress's family. That life was gone now. Freeing Torchwick would be the final nail in that coffin.

Reaper followed Neo's lead through the streets. The first part of the plan was to steal a private craft to make a run at the flagship. There was no way to approach the military craft quietly without weeks of preparation, and even then the plan would only have a small chance of succeeding. So Neo elected to raid the ship instead, but she wasn't good at fighting groups, even if they were aura-less androids.

Luckily, she heard rumors of a being that fought like a demon appearing in the more decrepit parts of Vale. After finding Reaper and watching her for some time, she knew she had found what she needed. It hadn't even taken much to convince the girl to follow, and Neo didn't even have to lie to do it. Reaper was certainly a survivor, and a strong one. She didn't know what happened to Ruby to cause that transformation, and she wasn't likely to learn. She got the impression that talking about Reaper's past wasn't the best idea if Neo wanted to keep her around.

The private airship yard appeared past the next corner. "We should stay away from any ship with a Schnee logo. I don't want my description somehow making it to Beacon because of my old partner." Reaper told Neo. She nodded in acknowledgment. Neo was fully aware that the Schnee heiress was Ruby's partner in school. It would certainly make criminal work problematic if the Academy caught wind of her location and decided to try track her down.

'It would be foolish to think we could keep quiet forever.' Neo texted to Reaper's black scroll.

"Doesn't mean we have to help the news break any faster." Reaper rationalized. Neo nodded in agreement. Schnee craft were off limits.

They walked up to the security booth at the entrance. The guard looked over the strange pair. "What are you two doing here?" He asked them. Neither girl answered. The pink one just smirked and stared at him. The red one seemed unnaturally still. He was about to ask his question again when a hand seized the back of his hair and smashed his head into his console, knocking him out cold. Reaper let go of the guard's hair and watched the copy of herself dissolve beside Neo.

Reaper had been on the other side of that particular trick once before, and knew its effectiveness. The guard never stood a chance. With that, the criminal pair dashed across the yard on the lookout for the ship they wanted. They had to pass up a perfect craft because of the glaring Schnee logo on its side. Neo spotted another candidate and motioned for Reaper to follow her to it. Halfway there, they were cut off by more guards, and a few of the robot Knights. One of the guards was bleeding from his forehead.

"Guess I didn't hit him hard enough." Reaper thought out loud.

"Where's your partner!?" the guard in question shouted. Reaper and Neo traded looks. He had no idea what had actually happened. With a smile, Neo fired up her semblance once more. Since they were semi-physical copies and not images plastered on their opponents eyes, Neo could even fool the androids. The guards approached the copies, intent on arresting the pair. When the craft turned on behind them, the illusions shattered.

They turned to fire on the ship, but the head of one of the Knights being shot off made them hesitate. Neo took the pilot's seat while Reaper hung out the back with Crescent Rose trained on the ground force. If it came down to it, she would only disarm the people. _But they don't need to know that._ Reaper thought, putting another warning shot through another androids head to show off her accuracy. The intimidation worked, the guards lowered their weapons. They weren't going to die over some rich person's insured airship.

Reaper let out a held breath. Next they had to make it to Ironwood's ship. The plan didn't necessitate the stolen ship being in one piece, but they had to at least make it to the military craft. "You sure you can make the approach?" Neo looked over and rolled her eyes as if to say 'of course I can.' Reaper settled into the co-pilots seat for the rest of their short flight.

Ironwood's flagship was calm, quiet. Only a few living personnel were onboard, the craft mostly manned by android units. Then the alarms rang out, the klaxon lights drenching the white hallways in red. The Knights were moving to their programmed defensive positions when one the hallways exploded, a small personal craft grinding inside through the fresh hole it had caused. The two girls climbed out, no worse for wear. They had flared their auras at the last second before impact, letting it take the hit instead of them. Neo wasn't going to be fighting anyway, and Reaper had plenty of reserve.

Neo tossed Reaper a short knife. "You sure this thing will work?" Reaper asked, putting the knife through the back of her belt for now. Neo nodded. "It better." They ran through the halls, heading for the brig. Neo knew where it was from the planning the first breakout, the one Ruby and Velvet forced her to cancel.

They met little resistance until they stepped through the brig's doors, and met dozens of knights and one human girl on the other side. _Crap_. Reaper had met her before. Weiss's sister, Winter.

"I had assumed there would be only one reason to raid this ship," Winter stated. "Jailbreak. Wait… Aren't you…" Winter started to recognize the red girl.

"Neo, stay back." Reaper told her ally. Neo allowed herself to fade into the shadows, illusioning herself from the red girl's sight as an added precaution. Reaper pulled the knife out and held it tight. _Now or never. Just do it. Do it! DO IT!_ Reaper brought the knife in and buried it into her right shoulder. She gritted her teeth and focused on the pain, allowing it to draw the Red Haze. Her sanity began slipping, and her silver eyes turned into a bright red. She eyed the androids with only one thought in her mind. _To rip apart these_ fucking _machines._ And that's just what she did.

* * *

Winter felt her back slam into a nearby console after being launched across the room. _This can't be Ruby. How can this be Ruby?_ From what little Winter knew of the girl, she was far from the criminal type. And not nearly this strong either. After stabbing herself, this red terror had thrown herself at the Knights, and all but ground them to dust. Winter moved in to take her down, remembering Weiss mention Ruby wasn't the best as fighting people.

And while Winter certainly seemed to be landing more hits, they barely fazed this girl. Meanwhile, the girl that looked like Ruby kept getting stronger and stronger, and angrier too. _I thought turning someone's strength back onto them was her sister's semblance…_ The red eyes, the amazing speed, the overwhelming power… Winter had to admit, she was scared shitless. There was only one thing she could do… retreat as if her life depended on it, because it certainly looked like it truly did.

She used her summoning glyph to send a white beowolf at Reaper. The weak construct was easily wiped from existence, but it had served its purpose. Winter used the distraction to jump backwards and smash through the windows. She allowed herself to fall far away from the ship before slowing her descent with her glyphs. If that really was Ruby, that scythe had a sniper function. Winter really didn't want to learn firsthand.

Finally making it to the ground safely, she could no longer hold back the darkness. Reaper had made considerable work of her, and using the glyphs to save her life took what little energy she had left. Closing her eyes, her brain forced her into unconsciousness. But at least she was alive.


	3. Act 1: Ch 3

Yang was walking from the dorm and saw Velvet approaching in the hallway. "Sup, Velvs?"

"Just picking Ruby up. We're heading out to the arcade for a little bit." Velvet answered.

"You guys really like that place, huh? I should have never thought I could beat at Ruby anything in there." Yang responded.

"You should have checked the leaderboards. Hey, Yang." The rabbit girl looked to her friend with concern. "Are you doing okay?"

The blonde's face fell. "I'm… Velvet, you don't believe I just broke his leg like that, right?"

"Of course not." Velvet told her, "You may be a bit of a brute, but you're not brutal. Not without cause. I know what I saw, but I also know there are all kinds of powers and abilities in this world. One can't always trust their eyes. Ruby believes you, and she knows you much better than I do. Even Weiss agrees it isn't like you, and you two aren't even that fond of each other."

Yang smiled. "Thanks Velv. We're cool, right?" Velvet nodded, and the two girls parted ways.

Velvet had permission to enter RWBY dorm on her scroll, curtesy of Ruby, and was able to let herself in. Velvet was immediately greeted by a red blur wrapping herself around the faunus. "Ruby, how did you even know it was me?" She asked her girlfriend with a laugh.

"You're the only person I was expecting." Ruby answered as she let go.

"And if it was someone else? You would have just hugged a random person?" Velvet pressed.

"That, uh… actually happened once. It was awkward…" Ruby said.

"Ruby!" Velvet crossed her arms.

"No, it was a long time ago, we weren't together!" Ruby recovered quickly. "It was back on Patch. I thought it was going to be my mom, but it turned out to be the guy telling us… Well…" Ruby suddenly seemed really sad.

"That she wasn't coming back?" Velvet asked cautiously. Ruby nodded and Velvet pulled her into a hug. "Let's get to the arcade, love." The young leader nodded again and the pair headed into Vale. Ruby had cheered back up by the time they made it to the arcade. The girls found themselves thinking about nothing other than their respective dates.

Ruby had always assumed Velvet was a quiet book-y type. When she learned they shared their Weapon Engineering class, she was strangely happy to see the faunus had an excitable side. Velvet found she was always smiling as Ruby fawned over various weapons. Soon enough, the faunus let the young girl know what her own weapon was. _A weapon that can be every weapon in the world! That is sooooo cool!_ Ruby had said.

The next few days were spent with questions about how Velvet's weapon worked. Velvet was happy to answer questions about her weapon, and Ruby was happy to see a new, energetic side to her latest friend. After Ruby had learned everything about Velvet's weapon, she didn't stop sitting and talking with the girl. She wanted to see what else brought out this excited side that made her smile so much to see. What confused Ruby was that the faunus girl seemed to always be super excited whenever they talked about anything at all, even things that Ruby knew the girl was usually timid about.

For weeks, Ruby just couldn't figure it out, until Velvet had come to her out of class one day and asked Ruby on a date. Everything clicked into place. _She_ was what was making Velvet so happy and energetic. Ruby also realized there could only be one answer to the question at hand. In her commotions, she had overlooked her own developing feelings. Now that Ruby was aware, the only thing left to figure out was why Velvet ran when Ruby said yes.

"I said I was sorry! I had to tell Blake, I was really happy!" Velvet told her girlfriend as they left the arcade. At some point they began reminiscing out loud and between each other.

"I'm happy I make you happy." Ruby replied. Velvet smiled at the response. "Uh oh!" Ruby checked her scroll. "If we don't hurry, we'll miss the next fight! Who's left, anyway?" Velvet responded with names, but the only two Ruby recognized were Pyrrha and Penny. As they rushed through the streets, something made Ruby stop short.

"What is it?" Velvet asked, turning back.

"That girl." Ruby pointed at a strangely colored girl who looked as though she was attempted to walk quietly into a restricted area. "She's one of Torchwick's goons! The one that stopped us after the mech, and beat up Yang on the train!"

"You realize you lead a very event filled life for a first year Beacon student." Velvet observed, having heard of team RWBY's misadventures from her girlfriend.

"Care to join me on this one? She can't be up to any good." Ruby asked, pulling out Crescent Rose.

"If you get yourself hurt, you won't hear the end of it." Velvet answered by readying her own weapon.

"Right back at'cha, girlfriend."

They followed the strange girl at speed, and she noticed the huntress's approach. She did not expect to be seen here, and was now being run down by two huntresses. One with a huge scythe, the other had a holographic fake of the same scythe in her hand. Neo soon found herself at a standstill with these two. She could dodge their attacks easily enough, but the red one was too fast to counter, and the faunus kept changing her weapons and fighting style.

Neo was quickly becoming worried. If she couldn't end this fight or find a way to run from it soon, the entire plan would be shot. Even with the White Fang and the high possibility of a Grimm attack, the Atlesian Knights turning on Beacon was a vital piece. They were interrupted by a large disturbance from the fight. All three girls' attentions turned to the screen. "Penny…" Ruby fell to her knees as she saw her android friend in pieces.

Neo took the opportunity to run. Perhaps, if she was fast… nope, the nevermores were already coming. With the Grimm, Ironwood's ship would be on lockdown. She was supposed to already be on board for before now to get Torchwick. His many lessons told her exactly what to do. Run and survive. She ran like hell, blending in with the mass of civilians fleeing into the city, and hopefully to safety. She promised herself she would find a way to get Torchwick later, even if Cinder lost this day and her war was over. There was still plenty they could do together, profits to be made.

Meanwhile, the girls she left behind were beginning to react to their situation. "Ruby!" Velvet shook her girlfriend out of her stupor. "There's White Fang _and_ Grimm on campus! Now are you a huntress or not! Fight first, live to grieve later. Okay, love?"

"You're right." Ruby sniffed. "Gotta call Yang." She dialed her sister on her scroll.

"Hey, Rubes, where you at?" Yang answered.

"On the grounds. We gotta regroup, where are you?" Ruby asked.

"Looking for Blake. She's not answering her scroll. I'm by the cafeterias, meet me."

* * *

Reaper's rage had calmed after seeing Winter go through the window. "Neo, I'm safe." The color coded criminal shimmered into existence next a cell in the brig. By the time Reaper joined her by it, the door was already open, and Torchwick stepped into freedom.

"Well, this is certainly a surprise, Red." Torchwick said. "That was an impressive bit of fighting." Roman's eyes panned to the window Winter leapt through. "If you fought me like that I might not be here for you to rescue. I suppose I should be thankful."

"Thank Neo." The scythe master told him. "She's the one who convinced me not to gut the both of you." Torchwick looked to his old partner, who only smiled knowingly.

"She certainly appears calm around you. I guess that means you're okay, Red. What's the next step?" Torchwick asked, "I'd love to blow up this ship."

"If the blaring alarms weren't a dead giveaway, we don't have the time for that." Reaper sounded irritated. "We just gotta use the program on your scroll to hijack a fast fighter, and run like hell."

"Not blowing up the ship?" Roman looked to Neo, who gave him a series of gestures Reaper couldn't dechiper. "If I were a betting man, I might say Cinder really is finished."

"I find it hard to believe you don't gamble." Reaper told him.

"I play cards, darling, but I don't gamble." Torchwick responded with a smirk.

"Lie, cheat, steal, and survive, right?" Reaper replied.

"Oh, Neo's been teaching you well I see. I'm starting to think a partnership might just work out." Torchwick smiled cunningly. "So, Cinder is gone. I wasn't sure I should have trusted that news when they told me. Guess we picked the wrong side that time. Glad I'm still alive to try again."

"And whose side are you picking this time?" Reaper asked.

"My own." Roman said. "Even without world changing crime to do, we can have plenty of fun and make a pretty penny in the process. There's a whole criminal underworld, Red."

"Ruby?" a familiar voice spoke from another of the cells they passed. Reaper turned slowly and saw a head of ruffled silver hair through the window.

"Mercury…" She growled, eyes tinging red. She stalked up to his cell. Roman watched the scene out of lethargic curiosity, though Neo found she had a great interest is seeing how 'Reaper' handled the unfolding situation. Mercury smirked as she approached.

"Freeing Torchwick and not us? I'm hurt." Mercury chided.

"Mercury, shut up!" Emerald's scared voice came from behind Reaper.

"I'm surprised you're here, Ruby." Mercury ignored his partner in the cell across. "Mind letting me out too?"

Reaper brought Crescent Rose up in sniper mode, pressing the barrel flush with the glass to Mercury's cell window, pointed between his eyes. "Neo and Torchwick did it for the money, to survive. Bur _you_ followed her ideals. You. Followed. Cinder." Her red eyes brightened.

"Mercury!" Emerald called from her cell.

"It's fine, Em," he called back, "she's still too much of a goody two-shoes to pull the tri-" _**BANG**_ _!_

Blood spotted the back of Mercury's cell, as the owner's lifeless form slid to the floor. Torchwick raised an eyebrow in surprise, Neo gave a large smile and Emerald screamed. Reaper turned to face the other cell, and its occupant.

"Your eyes. Mercury… What the hell happened to you, Ruby?" Emerald's fear was evident in her voice.

"That's not my name." Reaper told her, bringing up the rifle once more. She fired through the glass and Emerald fell, but no blood appeared on the back wall of the cramped chamber. There was the chance she raised her aura in time, and had enough of it to absorb the damage. If that was the case, she couldn't have much left, if any at all.

Reaper extended her weapon to the full scythe mode, ready to counter an attack as she opened Emerald's cell. What she saw was the girl unconscious and intact on the cell floor. The scythe master grabbed the dark-skinned girl's neck and threw her out of the cell, into the middle of the room. As Reaper raised her blade, Emerald blinked awake. Seeing the flash of silver like a guillotine, she attempted to raise her aura again.

Either she was too late, or she didn't have enough. Crescent Rose's blade stuck into the floor and Reaper watched Emeralds head bounce away, independent of her body. The scythe girl pulled back her weapon and walked to the main door of the brig. "I think I'll keep Reaper, actually." She told Neo. "It fits."

"Reaper…" Torchwick tested the name on his tounge. "So it does. Remind me not to piss you off."

The criminal group heard the sound of approaching military robots. "Great…" Reaper cursed herself. She got gotten distracted, and wasted time. Her anger, though directed at herself, called forth the Red Haze. "If you don't want to get killed, then get back and stay out of my way!" Reaper barked at her companions. She let the last bit of sanity go and flung herself at the robots, slowly clearing a path to the hanger.

Torchwick watched the girl work. She's strong and willing to work with him the same way he and Neo work together. She could certainly be an asset, help him get back on his feet. He just hoped this decision wouldn't bite him in the ass, like the last one almost did. He and Neo were slightly delayed by destroying the surveillance tapes, but arrived in the hanger to see a calm Reaper and a craft to escape in.

* * *

Velvet sat at the breakfast table the next morning, waiting for her friends. She wouldn't be able to smile until her friends showed up and distracted her from her thoughts. Three months, and Ruby's desertion hurt just as much now as the first day she realized the young girl had run away. All Velvet wanted to do was find the girl, hold her close, and never let her go again. But to do that, she would need a place to start looking, and she had none.

She recalled Ruby asking to spend the night with Velvet the night she vanished. Not sex, just sleeping, she had clarified. Velvet was still unsure, and turned her down politely. At the time she had thought Ruby took the refusal surprisingly well, as she seemed eager. Then her girlfriend was gone by morning. _Was she already planning to run? Could I have changed her mind? Or did I unwittingly push her away?_

Eventually Team CFVY and the remnants of RWBY joined her at the breakfast table. Soon after CFVY invited themselves to sit with the first years, it became a regular thing. Even now, after everything, it was a tradition neither wanted to give up. Conversation became the normal morning things, and provided the needed distraction. Everything was calm until Weiss checked the newsfeed on her scroll.

Her eyes became panicked after reading the main article. She quickly switched her scroll to the contacts page and hit a number. It rang. And it rang, and it rang… "Pick up, dammit!" Weiss eventually cursed. She hung up and called again, only letting it ring twice before ended that call and dialing a different number. After three rings, this one picked up. "Father! Father, I just read the news, it's not… no…"

The rest of the group quickly retrieved their own scrolls and checked the news. 'Ironwood's flagship attacked late last night by unknown assailants. Two prisoners executed, a third freed, and an officer resting in a coma. Click here for the full story.' The 'full story' didn't give much detail, as the Atlas military refused to release any. An unnamed prisoner was freed, and the two other unnamed prisoners were obviously executed by the intruders, given their state of death (which remained unclear to the reporter).

They also refused to release the name of the comatose officer. Though given Weiss's reaction, they could assume who. Someone she knew, who worked closely with Ironwood and would likely be assigned to his flagship. Someone who was close to Weiss personally. "Winter…" the heiress grieved, her head landing in her crossed arms on the table.

Blake wrapped a comforting arm around her girlfriend. Winter was one of the few people who was consistently kind in any way, shape, or form in Weiss's early life. The cat faunus knew what the heiress's sister meant to her. _It seems our year of tragedy isn't over just yet, and it's my turn in the barrel._ Weiss lamented.


	4. Act 1: Ch 4

Ruby and Velvet made their way to the cafeterias to meet with Yang. Seeing the strangely colored girl unnerved Ruby, but the hunters were fighting back the Grimm and the White Fang with the help of the Atlesian Knights. The citizens were even staring to feel hopeful and positive, which in itself is a strong weapon against the Grimm. The tide was turning, there were even murmurs that Cinder, the person who started all this, was dead.

Beacon was still burning, however, and a few White Fang soldiers seemed to be of the 'never take me alive' mindset. Ruby had to find Yang. Velvet wasn't going to let Ruby out of her sight amongst the leftovers of this madness. They finally tracked the blonde down, who was fighting a bull faunus in a long coat as Blake watched close by, injured. This man wasn't just fighting to go down fighting. He was fighting as if he could still win if he just fought hard enough.

Ruby watched the vicious conflict, and didn't like what she saw. The faunus sheathed his blade, and Yang took the opening. But his smile told Ruby it was a trap of some kind, and her sister was falling for it. The young leader rushed forward in a cyclone of rose petals, aiming straight for the faunus. Blindsided by a solid, black and red wind, the bull's energy shot that could have cut clean through flesh and bone was knocked off target. Velvet had to jump back and away from the fight to avoid the debris.

"Ruby!?" Yang shouted. She looked back at the damage Adam's attack did. "Thanks…"

And so the one-on-one between Ruby and Adam began. Ruby knew she wouldn't usually be prepared for a fight against such a skilled opponent. But the bull man was clearly tired, after recently fighting and just using a powerful attack. Ruby was actually given an advantage in the fight, and after a few minutes trading blows Adam was disarmed. Ruby brought Crescent Rose's blade around his neck.

Adam spoke between labored breaths. "Going to kill me, little girl?"

"No," Ruby told him, folding Crescent Rose, "you're going to prison."

"Go ahead, be the hero. Heroes only exist in fairy tales. Mercy only ends in tragedy." He goaded. Ruby ignored him and let the Knights close in to cuff him. Velvet found the new battlefield in time to see this exchange and gave a smile for Ruby's good heart. She also saw Adam move, quicker than she thought the bull man had left in him. He dashed for his blade, took aim, and threw it at Ruby's exposed back as she walked away.

Yang saw it too, and moved to save her sister. She jumped to knock the sword out of the air before it reached Ruby. Yang over calculated, however, moving a bit too quickly through the air. Ruby turned in time to see Yang be impaled by Adam's sword. She crumpled to the ground, and Ruby dropped to her knees next to her, screaming her name. Adam laughed.

"See what I mean, girl! This is your reward for playing the he-" he was cut off by an enraged punch from Blake, and knocked out cold. Blake and Velvet approached the sisters on the ground.

"Aw shit Ruby… after you went and saved me… I knew payback was a bitch, but repayment?" Yang joked.

"Yang, don't joke about this!" Ruby yelled. "What were you thinking?"

"I wasn't planning on getting impaled. Well, not until the after party, if you know what I mean." Yang laughed and coughed a few times.

"Yang… you're jokes still suck…" Ruby told her.

"Why break tradition now?" Yang looked her little sister in the eyes. "I love you, Rubes."

Ruby began to cry. "I love you too, Yang. Just hold on, okay? Yang? Yang!?" Her sister fell quiet.

Blake was shocked. _Adam did this… Adam killed her…_ Velvet placed a consoling hand on her girlfriends shoulder. Yang coughed. Ruby's eyes shot open, burning with determination. She recalled something she heard about while helping Velvet study for her second year classes. The young girl pulled Adam's sword out of her older sister, dug her fingers into the wound and began to channel her aura.

"Ruby, what are you doing?" Blake asked.

"Ruby! What are you thinking!?" Velvet's question had a lot more emotion to it. She recognized what her young girlfriend was attempting, and also knew just how dangerous it could be. Ruby started to repeat the aura unlocking chant and the two faunus could see her aura manifest. Yang's began to flicker on as well, and the yellow and red glows began to merge.

"Aura-Link" Velvet explained the concept to Blake. "She's trying to share her aura with Yang's. She's hoping to give her enough to heal even a fatal wound."

Blake looked over at her friend with surprise. "Do you think it will work?"

"There have been dozens of recorded attempts at Aura-Link for fatal injuries." Velvet told her. "And only three of those were successful. But it's too late to stop her, their auras are already merged." Blake turned back to Ruby and Yang with a horrified look. What happens if she fails? Unfortunately, she would learn that first-hand.

At first, it seemed to be working. Velvet was even hopeful that Ruby just might pull it off. What happened next can only be explained as both Ruby and Yang's auras turning on the younger sister and electrocuting her. They stayed linked for ten entire seconds while Ruby shuddered, until an energy shockwave separated the two girls and threw Ruby several feet from her sister.

Velvet ran to her girlfriend's side and dropped next to her, lifting the younger girl into her arms. Thankfully, Ruby was still breathing. But death was just one of the many possible consequences, and in Velvet's opinion, one of the kinder ones. Blake was still frozen, by both her injury and the events that just unfolded before her. She looked at the nearly closed wound from Adam's sword on Yang's abdomen, and witnessed the blonde brawler's last breath.

What they knew was already enough for tears. What they didn't know, not yet anyway, was what happened _inside_ Ruby Rose. They didn't know about Yang's aura and semblance, and how they nested themselves indelicately within Ruby's own aura. They didn't know what it would do to the young girl's mind.

* * *

Reaper woke in a cold sweat. She _hated_ re-experiencing that night in her dreams. Yang's death truly was the beginning of the end, the lynchpin that caused RWBY's devastation. After all, if she hadn't died, Ruby wouldn't have tried the Aura-Link, the consequences of which made her directly responsible for whatever sadness her friends might be feeling at this moment. _I should have killed Adam. Heroes only exist in fairy tales. Mercy only ends in tragedy._

Reaper stood and made her way into the decrepit house's living room. The trio had run all the way back to Vale, spending the night in this shell to hide. It wasn't a glamorous start to her new life, but Reaper understood that conditions in the field on hunter missions weren't much better. Least, at the moment, she had a roof. Reaper saw Torchwick smoking his cigar and thinking.

"That thing stinks by the way." Reaper told him. "I'm sure Neo would agree, if she spoke."

"Oh, she _has_ made her displeasure known, don't worry Red." Torchwick responded.

"Since you're the experienced career criminal, I figured it would be smart to follow your lead, for now." Reaper informed him.

"It is smart." He said.

"But let me make something clear. I'm not a lackey, not a foot soldier, not a mindless goon of yours." Reaper explained. "I'll follow you into a heist, but not if it means walking off a cliff or into custody. Got it?"

Roman laughed. "Standing down, but making you're authority known. You certainly are a survivor. Don't worry, I hear you loud and clear. Whether as an ally or an asset, you are far too valuable to let go." Reaper nodded and backed off, noting Neo's entrance into the room. "Look, Red," Torchwick called back Reaper's attention, "The gothic schoolgirl chic is cute, but far too familiar. If you don't want your old school buddies learning of your new life, you need a new outfit."

"It doesn't matter anyway." Reaper replied. "That girl I fought knew me. She was the sister to 'one of my old school buddies'."

The master criminal put forward a newspaper. "First tip of a successful criminal career: Read the news every morning. You never know what you will learn, good or bad."

"Funny, Weiss said the same thing about running a good business." Reaper noted.

"Well, what we do, or rather will do, _is_ a business, however illicit." Roman reasoned.

Looking over the paper, Reaper would call what she read bittersweet. She still felt guilty that she sent Weiss's sister into a coma, but at least she was alive. The fact that Winter was both alive _and_ unable to identify her even made her smile. "What about all the cameras?" she realized.

"Neo and I wrecked the security console while you were… taking care of the pests." Torchwick explained. "So, if there are no more slip ups, we have until the girl wakes up, if she ever does, before your friends discover your new leaf. Now!" Roman clapped his hands, demanding the girls' full attention. "I've been out of the game for a full year. I don't quite have the pull I used too, especially since no one knows I'm out yet. Atlas is being unsurprisingly hush-hush about a muck-up on their most expensive warship. So, we're going to have to _ask_ for work until we build back up a rep. Which means Junior's Club."

Neo nodded and Reaper groaned. "Looks like I'm going to need that new outfit."

"Know the place?" Torchwick asked.

"Kind of. My friends know it as a place to get information. Better safe than sorry." Reaper felt her black scroll buzz.

'That outfit looks a little too 'Ruby' anyway.' Neo messaged. 'I'll be back with a new wardrobe.' The colorful girl then left and returned sometime later with clothing that was likely shoplifted. The ensemble were entirely black, with a tank top, sleeveless large-button coat that looked like something Weiss would wear if it were white, form fitting pants, buckle boots, and elbow length leather gloves. Neo had also managed to get her hands on a large hooded cloak (black as well, of course) that would drag on the floor if someone Reaper's height wore it.

Once she put the clothing on, Neo shot her another text. 'Now you're 'Reaper'.' The colorful girl had also taken some hairbands. Reaper's hair had grown in a year, and while the bands couldn't yet help her bangs, she still pulled the rest of her hair into a small pony-tail. She looked into a mirror, and had to agree with Neo. She didn't just look like 'Reaper', she felt like 'Reaper' in this outfit. Reaper, the career criminal. Reaper, the killer.

She tested a few vicious smiles before finding one to settle on. She had already decided to play this part, to become this person. She might as well learn to enjoy it. Not that she'll start killing innocent civilians if she could avoid it. That's a rule she wanted to hold onto. Reapers only take someone when their time is up, after all. She also didn't let Neo throw out her old cloak. It was still precious to her, and while it would be foolish to wear it, she wouldn't abandon it. She elected to tuck it under her new one until she had a safe place to store it.

Finally ready to leave, the criminal trio left for Junior's Club.

* * *

It took two weeks before Weiss could get to Winter's side. She had to wait until the school year officially ended before she could leave for Atlas. Blake accompanied her, of course. She wasn't letting her girlfriend go alone. While Blake felt a measure of guilt from once being in the White Fang, and Velvet was romantically involved with Ruby, Weiss had always managed to detach herself from these events. She had to be strong for Blake, and she finished her grieving quickly.

But this one was too personal, and the heiress finally broke down. Blake sucked it up and decided she had to be the strong one this time. Weiss had been a strong leg to stand on, but now it was faltering. Blake knew she had to return the favor, not for the favor's sake, but for Weiss's. Blake truly did love this girl. The whole flight to Atlas, Weiss cried into Blake's lap. Blake assumed they weren't just for her sister, but for all the sadness she had held back to stay strong. The floodgate was open, and it was all pouring out.

Right onto Blake's pants, but that's okay.

That was the first week. After arriving in Atlas, it took another week to get the hospital to allow Blake inside. It frustrated Weiss beyond belief, and while Blake insisted she should just go see her sister, Weiss refused. It wasn't until the heiress told her faunus girlfriend she _needed_ Blake to be there with her that cat girl relented. Finally, Weiss's father entered the room she and Blake shared to give her the news.

The second he stepped inside, his eyes darted to Blake. It was a wakeup call when a grief ridden Weiss ran to a faunus instead of her father. He didn't want to lose his daughter, and eventually met with Blake. They had come to an understanding. They hated each other, but they both loved Weiss. For her sake, they would settle for disliking each other and tolerating the other's presence quietly. Weiss chalked it up to a win.

"Weiss dear, the hospital has agreed to an arrangement." He told her.

"Really?" Weiss's cracked voice was full of hope. "What exactly?"

"As long and she is with you, they will allow her presence. She must also wear her bow, to avoid upsetting any of the patients." He answered.

Blake wriggled her ears. She hadn't worn her bow in a long time, and promised Yang at her funeral she would live open from then on. Not as though she didn't anticipate needing for visiting Atlesian high society, but the thought of returning to it still made her uncomfortable. Weiss opened her mouth to argue. "Weiss, I'm fine with it." Blake interrupted, "You _need_ to see your sister, and now I can be there with you. It will only be for the day." Weiss was starting to hate these half-victories, but her girlfriend was right. It was about time she saw Winter.

Ears properly contained, security finally let Blake inside. Luckily Winter didn't need life support, but she still slumbered away with a soft beeping from the heart monitor. Ironwood was in the room as well, and looked up to see Weiss and Blake enter. "Hello girls. You must be Weiss." He addressed the heiress.

"Mr. Ironwood." Weiss offered a polite nod before looking over her sister. "Sir, is there anything you can tell me?" she eventually asked.

"I'm sorry, I can't." Ironwood stood to leave.

"It's her sister!" Blake shot at him. Her bow irritating her ears weren't helping her mood.

"It's an ongoing military investigation. If you were graduated huntresses, you might be able to twist my arm, but legally, you are still civilians. Even if you do have military training. I cannot share any information." Ironwood spoke professionally, reaching for the door. He stopped just before the knob and sighed. He locked the door and returned to the young girls. "I'm only going to do this because I have great trust and respect for the Schnees. What I tell you does _not_ leave this room, understood? Not even your other friends at Beacon will know you know this."

Both girls nodded, allowing Ironwood to continue. "The truth is, we know nothing. Only an army could have possibly survived an assault on my ship. But the evidence of their entry and escape suggest a small team. It's confusing us all, and the only living human who saw anything cannot speak." He looked over Winter.

"Cameras?" Weiss asked.

"Disabled. No intact android got a clear video shot." Ironwood answered.

"What about the prisoners?" Weiss asked next.

Ironwood eyed the two girls, gauging just how much he should tell. "Torchwick is the escapee. The two fatalities were Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai. They were the only prisoners held on my ship."

"The news said they were executed by the intuders?" Blake inquired this time.

"Ms. Schnee is troubled enough, I'm sure she doesn't need the gory details." Ironwood resisted.

"It's fine. Maybe there's a clue there." Weiss told him.

"There isn't." He persisted. Again, he soon sighed and relented. "Sustrai was thrown from her cell and beheaded. Black was shot through the glass of his cell, he never left it. We can't tell what kind of weapon was used. It was obviously custom- made. We've combed the ship three times. The only person who holds any tangible evidence is Winter. We won't know what she knows until she wakes up."

"If she wakes up…" Weiss wept.

Ironwood dropped his gaze. "I'll… leave you to it." He told them, leaving the room.


	5. Act 1: Ch 5

Ruby woke up in the Beacon infirmary. Looking around, she could see parts of the roof that were patched up by Goodwitch. She could also see the number of fellow students also treated in the infirmary. Eyes coming to the bunk next to her, she saw Blake, still asleep and wrapped in bandages. Seeing her team mate hurt sparked something deep inside Ruby, something the young girl didn't recognize. Memories of the night before came slowly.

Velvet. Ruby was on a date with Velvet. And then they saw someone. They ran… to say hello? To fight? Ruby was no longer in the tournament. But it _was_ to fight… the pieces came back slowly, and as they culminated to the finality of the night, Ruby heartbeat increased. The monitor beeped rapidly, calling over the nurses. "Where's Yang! Where's my sister! She made it, she had to, where is she!?" The young girl yelled at the nurses.

As the nurses attempted to console Ruby, Pyrrha attempted to console Weiss back at RWBY dorm. She had spent the whole night in tears. She couldn't tell whether Yang's death, Ruby's unexplainable condition, or Blake's injuries hurt worse. She eventually decided all three were equally shitty, and spent the whole night crying. Half-way through the night, the noise attracted the warrior girl, who came in to be shoulder to cry on. JNPR made it through the night unscathed, so none of them could imagine nearly losing your entire team.

An announcement over the intercom told them classes were suspended indefinitely. Weiss knew Beacon wouldn't be shut down. The school had survived as long as Ozpin had, and she figured classes would resume in a few weeks after students had time to grieve. Weiss didn't know if a few weeks would be enough for them. There weren't many fatalities from last night, but Yang was one of them. Pyrrha left the dorm to collect breakfast, bringing back Weiss's and staying with the girl until Ozpin came to the room around noon.

"Ms. Schnee." He greeted. "Ms. Rose and Ms. Belladonna are awake, and able to receive visitors." Weiss's eyes widened and she dashed from the room. Ozpin stopped Pyrrha at the door. "After you returned her power, it seems Autumn will make a full recovery. The world is indebted to you, Ms. Nikos." Pyrrha nodded, and continued back to her dorm to get some sleep.

Halfway to the infirmary, Weiss stopped short. She pulled out her scroll and dialed Velvet. Ruby's girlfriend deserved to know the young leader was conscious.

"Hello?" the faunus answered, sounding as though she didn't get much sleep herself.

"Ruby's awake."

"I'll be right there!" Velvet told her and hung up without hesitation.

Velvet got to the infirmary before Weiss. She was stopped at the door. Since there were so many patients, they had to impose a rule can only team mates could visit. Once Weiss arrived, she was able to talk them into letting Velvet through with her. "Fine, I guess there's no helping it. Just don't tell anyone else. You two should know something before you see Ms. Rose."

"Did something happen to her?" Weiss asked.

"Soon after she woke, she experienced a fit of rage. We traced the emotional stress back to the news of her sisters passing. It woke her other team mate here, who told us rage is an unusual response."

"Yes, it is. In fact it sounds more like Yang…" Velvet remarked thoughtfully.

"We had to inject three time the normal amount of tranquilizer knock out someone her size just to calm her down. Her body was burning through it before it could take effect."

Velvet and Weiss traded uneasy looks. The heiress was thoroughly confused. The faunus had an inkling of what may have happened, and it only made her more anxious. She didn't want to worry Weiss until she was sure, and stayed quiet as they went to Ruby's bed. Ruby had her face buried in her hands, and wept uncontrollably. Blake was awake, but her injuries kept her in her own bed.

"Ruby…?" Vlevet spoke softly and slowly, afraid to alarm the girl in case her theory proved true. Ruby stopped shaking and raised her head slowly.

"Velvet? Velvet…" Ruby looked at her girlfriend with her silver eyes shining from tears. Velvet moved quickly now that Ruby knew she was there, and drew her girlfriend into her arms. "Velvet, she's gone… Yang's gone… I did… and she's still gone…"

Weiss saw Velvet had Ruby, so she spent her attention on Blake. She looked over the faunus and felt her heart seize. She had noticed her admirations for the cat eared girl for some time. It was painful to see her so hurt. She sat next to her on the bed. "How are feeling?"

"I'm alive. It's more than I can say for…" Blake stopped herself before finishing her remark. "I've been better."

Weiss put a hand on Blake's. the faunus looked up at the heiress, and saw something in her eyes she couldn't place. "He killed her, Weiss. Adam killed her. My old partner…"

"I know if you could have done anything, you would have. It's not your fault Blake." Weiss assured.

"There was nothing I could do last night, but if I only tried harder back then… perhaps I could have changed him… changed the White Fang…"

"Blake, it's not your fault…" the heiress assured once more, but all for naught. Her partner's death was hitting Blake harder than anyone except Ruby. The girl in question was crying into Velvets shoulder until a doctor came that wanted to speak to her.

"Ms. Rose?" he asked.

"Yeah?" She responded, looking up at him.

"Ms. Rose, I've been reviewing your charts. It looks like you're going to have to stay longer than we once thought."

"What? How long?" Ruby asked incredulously.

"A few days of observation, and then we'll see." The doctor answered.

"A few days? And then we'll see!?" Ruby's voice filled with a venom that sounded foreign and unnatural coming from the sweet girl's mouth. "I thought you said I was fine!?"

"Physically, yes, you are."

"Then why keep me here!?" Ruby's anger seemed to only rise, and it was beginning to frighten her friends. The doctor was also visibly unnerved by the sudden mood swing. "If I'm fine, just let me go!"

"We just want to check a few things out." The doctor insisted. "Please, Ms. Rose, calm down." He had to duck the food tray from Ruby's lunch that the girl just threw at his head. Swiftly the nurses crowded, pushing Weiss and Velvet back, as they attempted to calm the young leader down.

"What the hell was that?" Weiss asked.

"A lot calmer than the first time." Blake replied from her bed, which she suddenly found uncomfortably close to Ruby's. "At least she's not throwing punches. Yet."

"Did either of you see her eyes?" Velvet asked them. They both turned to her and shook their heads. Velvet grabbed the doctor and pulled him into a huddle with Weiss and Blake around the cat girl's bed. "I think I know what's going on." She told them all. "Do all of you know what an Aura-Link is?" She had told Blake last night, but she didn't know what Weiss and the doctor knew. The heiress looked at her with horror, and the doctor looked at her with understanding. "I see you do."

The doctor checked his charts. "Ms. Rose attempted one with her recently deceased sister, I presume?" Velvet nodded. "I'll have to request the sister's records. Thank you for informing me. Foolish girl…" the doctor walked away.

"What did the Aura-Link do to her?" Weiss asked. She knew the concept, and knew it could have horrible consequences, but not much else.

"I wasn't sure until I saw her eyes as she was talking to the doctor. They turned red. I think she accidently took on Yang's aura, her semblance." Velvet answered.

"What will that do to Ruby?" Blake asked.

"I don't know." Velvet looked at her girlfriend through the group of nurses. "Yang had a very powerful, anger based semblance. It may be too powerful for Ruby to ever control…"

A few days later, Velvet returned on her own. Ruby was one of the few students still in the ward, even Blake left the day before. Velvet approached Ruby cautiously. "Hey, love."

"I hate it here." Ruby told her. "They won't let me go. I just want to leave here. I want to spend a day with you, I want to see Weiss and Blake and Y-…" The young girl tightened her grip on her sheets. Velvet saw her eyes start to tinge red. "I feel like a prisoner."

"It'll be okay, Ruby." Velvet placed a reassuring hand on her girlfriends shoulder.

"When!?" Ruby shouted, making Velvet jump back. "When will it possibly be okay? Yang's gone, and you all are too scared of setting me off to come see me!"

"I'm here. I always will be, Ruby." Velvet assured, though she couldn't keep her voice from shaking.

"I know Velv…" Ruby struggled to calm herself. "I appreciate it… it's just… Aaaggh!" Ruby lost herself and punched the railing on her hospital bed hard enough to bend it. The impact on her bare hands only aggravated Yang's semblance inside her.

"Ruby…" Velvet's soft voice pierced the veil of red settling on Ruby's vision long enough for her to become concerned with her girlfriends safety _. Velvet's not safe around me, not when I'm like this._

"Go." Ruby told her with a hard edge to her voice. Velvet reached a hand out and Ruby's eyes burned brighter. "Just Go!" Velvet stopped and her hand and after a moment, turned to leave. She walked quickly into the hall and slid down the wall into a sitting position.

* * *

Velvet sat in a similar position in her bedroom, only with tears. It's been nearly five months since she last spoke to Ruby. Now that it was the middle of break, there was no constant presence of friends and classmates to distract her from her thoughts. Once she returned to school, it would be her fourth and final year. Velvet had no clue what she would do after that. Her and Ruby once decided that Velvet would hunt out of Vale, that way she was close by until Ruby graduated herself. They once spoke of a lot of things…

It was a lot harder to talk to Ruby after the failed Aura-Link. Ruby angered so easily, and it was nearly impossible to calm her. She eventually learned the best way was to go and hit something until Yang's semblance was exhausted. Velvet lost count of the number of times Ruby would run off in a rage, to return a half an hour later with the smell of Grimm soaking the girl through and through. A few times she returned with injuries to boot.

Ruby's new anger problem made more than just talking difficult. Once team RWBY's second year began and classes started, she was soon restricted from sparring in Glynda's combat class. Apparently, she had nearly killed Jaune and had to be restrained to end the battle. She seemed to lose all reason and hearing when Yang's semblance acted up. Velvet herself once had to stop Ruby on a date, after someone insulted the faunus's ears and set the girl off.

And if she was scary against people, watching her let loose against Grimm was downright terrifying. Ruby had double the aura reserves she used too, Yang's general energy being transferred along with her semblance. She could take a lot more hits and direct their strength right back at her enemies. Once she set off in a rage, she could clear an entire nest of Grimm on her own. Not particularly impressive to hear, except she didn't do it tactically, instead surviving full assaults completely alone.

Outside of her rages, Ruby was almost as she was before, if a little more cynical. Despite missing her girlfriends happy-go-lucky attitudes, Velvet stayed. Ruby needed her more than ever, she knew that. She wasn't going to stop loving the girl because things got difficult. And there were a few days it seemed to work, days where they smiled and kissed and cherished life. Days that made it seem Ruby could control Yang's semblance and truly recover. And then she ran away.

"Velv! Dinner's ready! Your friend Coco is here!"

"I'll be down in a minute mom!" Velvet wiped tears from her eyes before heading downstairs.

* * *

The first two months with Torchwick were filled with almost non-stop jobs. They had to prove he was still out here, and that he could handle himself as well as before. It was working. They were making waves through the criminal underworld, rumor spread that Roman Torchwick was on the rise again. The jobs started paying more, and the trio could soon afford their own place. Hidden away with security out the ass, it was the perfect place to call home.

Roman was more ambitious than before, however. He didn't want to play the game, he wanted to run it. Well, maybe not all of it, but enough that they could run a gang and hold their own territory in Vale. And it seemed they were finally gaining reputation, as they were approached and asked to do a job, not the other way around. A train robbery of pure capital, 40% of which they got to keep. Normally Roman would protest, but even 40% of precious jewels in the amount discussed would be a beautiful profit. He still managed to talk the client into 45.

All that was left now was the details. Details Reaper took offense too. "I will _not_ kill innocent people!" She shouted at him from across their thick, metal planning table in the back room of their abode.

"I'm not telling you to _kill_ them, that would be barbaric! Just rough them up." Roman shot back.

"If my semblance goes off in there, I will kill them. I won't be able to stop myself, and I doubt you would be willing to try!" Reaper yelled, her eyes quickly turning red.

"It's the best plan! It's simple, efficient. It's easy to take a train! The only possible tuft would be the soldiers. But your fighting skills are worth a whole army." Torchwick told her.

"Yes, they're soldiers. Which means they will fight back, which will activate the Red Haze, which _will kill them._ " Reaper tried to stay calm.

Neo rolled her eyes. Reaper and Torchwick often argued during these planning stages. Roman didn't like drawing blood any more than the scythe master. It drew too much attention, after all. But he couldn't seem to understand that Reaper _can't_ control her rages. They would shout, Reaper would stomp off to slaughter Grimm in the Forever Fall before she could shove her blade into Torchwick's neck, and Roman would alter the plan by the time she got back. So it went, and Neo doubted this time would be any different.

"Listen, Red-" Torchwick continued, interrupted by Reaper slamming her fist into the table, which dented _far_ too easily for Roman's tastes.

"Find. Another. Way." She growled, turning on her heel to stomp off. _I am going to kill that man one day, and he will only have himself to blame._

Neo watched Reaper walk away, and grew a large smile. There was something she was curious about. Something she wanted to test for ages. Now was as good a time as ever. She followed Reaper at speed, closing the distance between them. When she got close enough, she pulled on the scythe master's shoulder to turn her around, and planted a voracious kiss on her lips.

Reaper shoved her off quickly, the anger in her eyes were joined by confusion. Neo watched carefully, trying to gauge the situation, ready to react. Unfortunately, Reaper's natural speed semblance was too much for the multi-colored girl. Neo was picked up and thrown into a nearby supply closet, the kind that had plenty of space. She was terrified that she had horribly miscalculated as Reaper slowly entered the closet and locked the door behind her.

Right up until Reaper pounced and started doing _exactly_ what Neo hoped she would. Clothes were lost, nails and teeth drew blood, and noises actually came out of Neo's mouth.


	6. Act 1: Ch 6

Ruby made her way back to her dorm room. So far, her second year at Beacon hadn't been a pleasant one. She had nearly killed Jaune in goodwitch's class, and she was restricted from sparring early on. Not that she needed to get any stronger; Yang's semblance took care of that. Whatever medications they tried were all too weak for it, and Ruby herself was nowhere near controlling it. She would be depressed if she wasn't so pissed.

 _At least I got through today without going off the deep end,_ she thought to herself as she entered her room. Weiss and Blake were inside already. _Well, it is almost midnight_. The two girls looked at their leader with concern, and Weiss had some anger on top of it. "Where have you been? We've all be worried, Velvet is out looking for you." Weiss interrogated.

"I was just on a walk. I'll message Velv." Ruby answered and pulled out her scroll. "…As soon as my scroll's charged." She placed her scroll on the charger and turned to see Weiss inches away from her.

"On a walk? You let your friends worry about you because of a _walk?_ "

"Weiss, we can argue tomorrow. I got through all of today without an incident, I'd really like to not have one now." Ruby deadpanned.

"That's not good enough!" Weiss replied. "We can't keep treating you like broken glass! Like a ticking time-bomb!"

"Well that's what I am!" Ruby shouted, her eyes beginning to change. "A ticking time-bomb! And all we can do is count the seconds until I go off again, and hope I don't hurt someone this time! You act like I haven't even tried to control it, I have! All year! Nothing! Works!"

"Yang could control it, there must be a way!" Weiss told her. Blake watched the scene in horror. Was Weiss trying to set Ruby off?

"It was her semblance! She grew up with it! It's not even supposed to be inside me! It belonged with her, it doesn't belong with me!" Ruby was getting louder and her eyes, brighter. Weiss realized she had let her anger get the better of her at the worst possible time.

"I'm sorry, Ruby, I shouldn't have said that…"

"And now you back down! I can't even hold a good shouting match with anyone when they're afraid I'll explode! There's no right answer, and I HATE IT! AAARRGHH!" Ruby grabbed Crescent Rose and slammed the door on her way out. She ran, faster and faster, and spotted Velvet. Turning to avoid her, Ruby lost track of her direction. Instead of the Emerald Forest, she soon found herself in Vale.

Ruby almost wished for a Grimm attack. She needed _something_ to hit, and could probably clear the entire city of an infestation right now. She didn't stop running until she spotted someone. A faunus. Ruby was never good with people, but even nearly a year later, her memories of that night were as vivid as ever. She saw this man, under a White Fang mask, attacking the school. The night Yang died.

"You!" She shouted, unfolding Crescent Rose. They were in the poorer section of Vale, where no one would react to Ruby's shout. In fact, most of the street cleared, knowing a confrontation was coming. The faunus turned around. He had ram horns, the left one chipped. Definitely him. "You were in the White Fang." Ruby heard herself growl, beginning to lose control.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He said quickly.

"Don't lie to me!" Ruby shouted, rushing him. He barely managed to avoid her attack. "You attacked the school! I saw you!" The ram faunus said nothing, pulling out weapons instead. A pair of steel claws, held like brass knuckled with three thin blades coming out of each one. Ruby rushed again, and the ram dodged once more, bringing a claw down.

"What!?" he stared at the girls cheek, which should have a large gash. Hell, he should have torn her jaw off, but nothing. _This girl must have a powerful aura_. His thoughts were interrupted by the back of the girl's scythe, which had struck his cheek with the force of a car crash. He was thrown into an ally by the attack, hitting the back wall. The girl flashed forward once more, faster than even he could see this time. Bringing his claws up in blind hope, he managed to block the scythe's blade.

He decided to use his best assets. He head-butted the girl with his ram horns. She stumbled, but seemed physically unaffected, while he had felt his horns crack. _Who is this girl!?_ He was starting to get scared. She seemed to shrug off anything he had dished out. And her eyes… burning red with sheer anger and hatred. His last thoughts were regrets of a lifetime of bad decisions, because one of them had to lead here. She flashed forwards one last time, where he felt her blade poke his neck. Everything after that was numb, and then darkness.

Ruby pulled her scythe out of the wall, the ram man's now-separated head bounced down the ally. As she returned to her senses, she fell to her knees. _What have I done…? I killed someone… I actually went and killed someone…_ She felt her stomach refusing its contents, rushing up her throat and out of her mouth. Puking all over the ally floor did little to alleviate the girl's horror at herself. Looking at the body only made her stomach lurch again, though there was nothing left to vomit.

She took Crescent Rose to the docks, where she furiously scrubbed away the blood in the sea water. The salt content could rust her scythe, but she would fix that later. As long as the blood was gone. Despite there being nothing left, she still sent bile into the water after thinking once more on what she did. She walked slowly back to Beacon, half expecting the police to stop her at some point along the way. _I knew I was dangerous, but to actually kill someone… I didn't even know his name… if he had friends, family…_

However, she made it all the way back to her dorm without incident. She realized she had forgotten her scroll and couldn't get in. _I should probably shower in the lockers real quick before I wake anyone up to let me in. Blake could probably smell it on me…_ twenty minutes later she returned to the door and knocked. It was almost immediately opened by Weiss.

"I'm sorry Ruby. I let my anger get the better of me, I was just stressed-"

"It's fine, Weiss. I just want some sleep…" Ruby pushed past her and into the dorm room, collapsing on the couch, falling asleep almost as soon as her head hit the cushions. She was just too tired to climb up to her bed, or notice Velvet was in the room.

The next morning at breakfast, everyone assumed Ruby's lack of sleep was to blame for her melancholy mood. Weiss checked the news as she does every morning. "There was a murder in Vale." Everyone turned to her. "It's not a large article, and there seems to be nothing to track."

Blake looked at the screen and groaned. "He's ex-Fang. All of Vale can be suspects after what they did, and I doubt the police are going to bother solving this one."

Ruby was amazed, and slightly relieved. Still, she _had_ killed that man… she was dangerous, more so than she thought before. By the time classes ended, she knew what she had to do. But there was something she _wanted_ to do first. She caught up to Velvet after classes and stopped her in the hall. "Hey Velvs, can I ask something?"

"Of course, Ruby." Velvet responded.

"I was wondering if… I could spend the night with you tonight…" Ruby asked.

The rabbit faunus turned red very quickly. "I-I uhh, I'm not sure we should… be doing _that_ quite yet…"

Ruby turned red herself at her girlfriends response. "No! Not sex, I don't mean that… just sleeping I swear…" _I couldn't touch you like that with these hands anyway… hands that took a life…_

Velvet calmed her flush with clarification. "I still don't know, love… maybe if it was a room with just us, but with my team there… I'm sorry."

Ruby's gaze dropped. _Of course. I was foolish to think that karma would let me have even that after last night._ "No need to apologize Velv…" The young girl turned to walk away, but soon stopped and turned back. "I love you, Velvet."

Velvet was amazed. Sure, they kissed. Sure, she called Ruby 'love'. But neither of them had said those precious words like that before now. She knew there was only one answer. She knew how she felt, and knew it was honest to say, "I love you too, Ruby." They shared a smile and left for their respective dorms. And that would be the last time Velvet saw Ruby Rose.

Three months later, Neo would discover a very different Ruby in the darkness of Vale, and help finish the girl's transformation into Reaper.

* * *

Reaper redressed with her back to Neo. There wasn't a kinder or more accurate way other than 'vicious rage fucking' to describe what they had just done. Well, Reaper was in a rage. Neo seemed to enjoy herself just fine. The most curious part is that it actually calmed the Red Haze, and no one was hurt. Other than what Reaper's nails had done to Neo's back, but her aura would heal that right up.

Not that Reaper was going to thank Neo. The multi-colored girl never did anything for anyone else. Reaper didn't know if there was a greater plot or the girl was just experimenting, but they both understood what happened. They used each other. No emotion, no caring, nothing to appreciate. Just mutual gain. Reaper had an uneasy feeling that this wouldn't be the last time.

As she left the closet, she briefly wondered if there was a different reason that Yang was always so promiscuous. Maybe she had discovered it as a control method as well. Reaper shook the thoughts from her head. She had accepted a long time ago that she would never control the foreign semblance she stuck herself with.

Reaper stepped back into the planning room and saw Torchwick putting finishing touches on his new plan. "Ah, Re- well I guess I can't call you 'red' anymore. Black? No, I guess I'll have to do with Reaper. Reaper! How do you feel about being a battering ram?"

"Excuse me?" Reaper looked over his new plans. She had to admit, they could work. Better yet, she doesn't even need to board the train with this new plan. "I think I can handle this." Torchwick smiled and the trio left to do the intel gathering work to fine tune their plan. On the way out the door, Roman noticed Neo's smile.

"You seem a bit cheerier than usual." He remarked. Neo only winked and strutted off.

Three days later the train would pass through a section of Vale. There would be the engine car, two cars of military personnel, and the jewel car. If their plan worked, they would essentially shrink the train to the just the engine and treasure compartments, switching the tracks at the next junction and going home free before the soldiers could properly react.

Neo and Roman managed to board the train and take over the engine car quietly. Disguised as a stewardess, Neo passed drinks through the two personnel cars. Between the two, she jammed the coupling, ensuring they would stay together. All she had to do was wait for the signal to decouple the jewel car. Meanwhile, halfway across town, Reaper stood waiting.

Everything depended on her timing. Once Roman sent the signal they had passed the mark, she would have to move faster than ever. She had Crescent Rose to propel her, and she tensed against the wall of the building that faced down the street she would use as a runway. Three streets over from Reaper, a faunus caught the unusual smell of roses in the air. "Ruby?" Velvet asked herself. She tried to follow the scent. _Could it really be? Is Ruby in Vale?_

Reaper's black scroll buzzed. She didn't bother checking it. Only two people had that number, and she told them both she would go at the buzz and not the reading of the message. Velvet turned the corner to find the scent had vanished. _Perhaps a florist just dropped a bouquet_ , the rabbit girl rationalized, watching a rose petal pass by her in the wind.

Reaper was moving faster and faster, firing Air Dust rounds out of Crescent Rose behind her. The specialized rounds had no projectile, and twice the kick of her normal shots. She moved faster, faster, faster than she ever thought possible. Everything slowed downed to her so she could still see where she ran when she used her speed semblance, but even Reaper saw the buildings blur beside her. The tracks ahead were still clear, and the train came into view. She jumped and kicked her legs out, focusing all of her considerable aura on her feet.

 _Bullseye,_ Reaper smiled as her feet connected with the center of the first personnel car. The soldiers inside must have thought an Atlesian Warship blindsided them at full speed. The engine and treasure compartments were already uncoupled by Torchwick and Neo respectively, so only the roughly fused personnel cars fell off the track. Reaper kicked off the car as it went flying, back flipping and landing on top of the jewel car as it passed.

Roman slowed the engine just enough to catch and couple their target, and then pushed it back to speed. They paid off a man to have the track switched, so all they had to do now was wait until they were a safe distance to unload. Neo popped her head over the roof of the jewel car to check on Reaper. Her fists were tight and her breathing was deep and quick. _The impact with the train car must have aggravated her Red Haze,_ Neo thought, recognizing the way's the girl tried to hold it back. They never worked for long, though, and there were no Grimm, ex-Fang, or Cinder groupies to behead.

Neo smiled. Reaper needed to calm before the train stopped, and Neo knew the perfect way to make that happen. Without warning, the multi-colored girl pulled the scythe master into the train car. Roman went to check the goods shortly after and hesitated at the door once he heard the sounds from inside. "Crazy finds crazy, I suppose." He thought out loud. "I guess I'll just have to wait for now."

Reaper emerged from the car just before their stop, straightening her outfit. "Have fun?" Roman playfully asked.

"Shut up." She told him. Roman raised an eyebrow at Neo, who had emerged already perfectly dressed. She shot him a look that said _we can't afford to let her lose her head now._ Torchwick decided it would be best to follow Reaper's advice and 'shut up'. Reaper pulled her hood low as they approached their client. Roman wasn't sure if the girl did it to hide her old identity or lose herself in her new one, but he had learned not to ask of the angry girl's eccentricities.

While the deal was being finished, Velvet entered her bedroom with one of the rose petals from earlier in her hand. She had noticed it soon after they started dating. Ruby's petals and the petals from a real rose always had a different look and feel to them. And this was definitely one of Ruby's petals. The girl was in Vale, and Velvet had almost caught her.

* * *

 **A/N So that's Act 1! let me know if you guys want more. Peace out for now.  
**


	7. Annoucment & Bonus ch

**At first I was scared I wouldn't really get to continue this tale. Now I'm scared it wont live up to your expectations. Seriously, I was going to count myself lucky if i got 20 follows after a week, but in two days i had that plus several reviews, a few of them _extremely_ positive, which i greatly appreciate. You think Yang is always the 'sacrificial lion' because of that great _mane_ of hers? Eh? No? Tough crowd.**

 **I don't know if 20 followers in a few days is really that impressive, but after the early performance of my first story, it is to me. Plus, I'm really excited to test my creative and writing skills, and explore where I want this tale to go. I hope you continue to enjoy it.  
**

 **That's right, you can consider this the official announcement of Act 2: Secrets and Lies!**

 **I think I'm going to do it much the same way as Act 1, where I write out all the chapters and upload the entire Act when I'm finished. That way I have that much more time to make sure everything flows smoothly. As of right now, I'm still kind of fine tuning the plot and my process for Act 2. Without any more information to revisit in the past, Act 2 won't have flashbacks at the beginning of each chapter. I want to find a way to have the 2500 word-per-chapter minimum I set for myself without ending with only 3 or 4 chapters in Act 2, so the pace may suffer. But I am going to try my best, and i hope Act 2 will be just as enjoyable as Act 1.**

 **One last thing. To (hopefully) tide you over at least _a little bit_ until Act 2 releases, and as a thank you for the support, I'm attaching a Bonus mini-chapter to this announcement, set the morning of Ruby's vanishing act back at Beacon...**

* * *

The second Blake woke up that morning, she knew something was off. It was much colder than usual in the dorm room. _The drape is flapping… the window is open!_ Years in the White Fang ingrained the response of an intruder in the private space. Practically leaping into a sitting position, she scanned the room. No intruders, just her and Weiss. _Wait, where's Ruby?_

Blake got out of her bed and stepped quietly to Weiss and Ruby's bunk, trying not to wake the heiress. Peering carefully into the top bunk, she could see it was indeed empty. Scanning the room once more revealed a few other things out of place. The faunus began to search the room in a panic. Weiss woke as Blake was tearing through the drawers of the desk.

"Blake, what are you doing?" She asked.

"Looking for a note. There has to be a note." Blake's voice was shaky.

"Why does there have to be a note? And where's… Blake, where's Ruby." The heiress started to notice the room and put the pieces together.

"She wasn't here when I woke up. Some of her clothes, one of your bags, and Crescent Rose are gone. But she would leave a note right? Let us know where she is, when she's coming back?" Blake more though out loud than actually stated, now searching under the beds. _Maybe it got swept under. It has to be here._

"Blake, calm down." Weiss got out of her bunk and held the faunus by her shoulders. "How long have you been searching?"

"I don't know, but it has to be here somewhere, there has to be a note." Blake struggled against the heiress's grip.

But she held on strong. "Blake!"

The cat girl froze. "But if there's no note… how are we supposed to know when she's coming back?"

"Blake… Let's get Velvet, start looking. Hell, maybe she's spending a few nights with her girlfriend. Let's not jump to conclusions…" Weiss could feel the contradiction in her throat. She already had a good idea what this meant, and she highly doubted a day of searching would prove otherwise.

They approached the breakfast table a few minutes later. Team CFVY was already there. Velvet didn't miss the lack of red in the coming group. "Where's Ruby?"

"So you don't know?" Weiss answered with a question of her own. "Are you busy today?"

Velvet looked to her team leader. "Go, bring her back. And when you do, bring her to me, so I can tear into her for making you worry so much." Coco told her.

"Coco…" Yatsuhashi warned.

"Hey, I don't care if she goes crazy!" Coco shot at him. "At this point, _someone_ needs to lay into that girl. I'm not scared of her."

Weiss, Blake and Velvet didn't hear any more, already setting off to search the school grounds. It only took them a few hours to comb the campus, then a few more to do it twice. After the third time, the girls decided to split up and try to search the Emerald Forest. As night fell, they returned to their dorms. She shot Coco a text to tell her she wouldn't be back tonight before curling up in Ruby's bunk. Weiss fell asleep quickly, but Velvet could hear Blake crying for a few hours before succumbing to sleep. The rabbit faunus's own tears kept her up much longer.

* * *

By the end of the week, they had searched Beacon another five times, the Emerald Forest three, and even the Forever Fall. A portion of Vale was also searched, and questions asked at Junior's Club. Team JNPR started to help, and the rest of team CFVY occasionally joined. All they found was nothing, nothing, and more nothing. At the end, the only two still searching were Nora and Velvet, though the former was only there to stay with the latter and keep her company.

Eventually Velvet, too, gave up searching. She spent the next few days out of classes, trying to deal with her sorrow. "Where did you go…" Velvet pined to the display interface of her weapon, currently showing her last copy of Crescent Rose. " _Why_ did you go…"

Blake wasn't doing much better. Although she was attending classes, she spent most of her free time curled onto her bed. Weiss did her best to comfort the girl.

"Why did she run…" Blake finally spoke.

"I don't know… maybe it has something to do with Yang's semblance." Weiss answered.

"Which she wouldn't have if Adam didn't kill Yang." Blake lamented.

"Which is not your fault." The heiress insisted. Blake wasn't convinced. She could have stopped Adam a long time ago, before all of this…

"Everyone is disappearing…" Blake thought out loud unintentionally.

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked.

Blake looked up at the heiress, thinking she had read her mind before she decided that was foolish and it must have been a slip of the tongue. "I'm usually the one to disappear… I ran from the Fang… I almost ran from you when you discovered I was a faunus… and now that I choose to stay, everyone else disappears instead…"

"I'm still here." The heiress stated proudly.

"For how long?" Blake questioned.

"For as long as it takes. Forever even. I'm not going to abandon you, Blake." Weiss promised.

"How can you promise that?"

Weiss took Blake's face in her hands. "I won't leave you." she told her friend again, looking her in the eye.

"Weiss… what are you…" Blake was confused by the emotions she saw in Weiss's eyes.

"Blake I won't… I… dammit!" the heiress brought their lips together in place of saying the words she just couldn't figure out right now. For a second, Blake lost herself in the kiss. It felt safe. It felt right. And then it was over and she was staring into blue eyes once more. "I won't leave you, Blake…"

The faunus gripped Weiss's shirt and buried her head into her chest to cry, her emotional control lost again. _Everyone's gone… don't leave too Weiss… you better keep your promise…_ Weiss accepted the girl into her arms and held her there until Blake cried herself to sleep. And after, even up to and through Weiss's own slumber, the heiress refused to move. It may not be the happiest or most glamorous start, but she had proved her point. She wasn't going to leave Blake now.

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed, stay tuned, and if it's not too selfish of me to ask, spread the word a little? Since this won't be high in the 'recently updated' list after today for a while? I'm not actually expecting anyone to, I just like knowing people enjoy my tales and some of those possible fans might not find this otherwise. If you do, thanks! If you don't, no harm done. Now that I'm done being shameless for a while, it seems I have work to do...  
**


	8. Act 2: Ch 1

**A/N Act2 is here! Just like before I encourage you to leave feedback, but i ask you to wait until you finish the whole Act (8 chapters this time, which will all be here in a few minutes of they are not already) before you do so. Enjoy!**

* * *

Act 2  
Secrets and Lies

Beacon came into view from the airship window. Velvet's team was already waiting for her, as well as Weiss and Blake. She was here to start her final year. She was also going to start her search for Ruby once more. The petal she found breathed new vitality into her heart. Ruby had to be somewhere, and Velvet wouldn't give up this time no matter how long it took. She was never going to love Ruby any less. The pair parted on their very first 'I love you's, how could anyone leave it there?

"Hey Velv. You seem almost cheery." Coco greeted.

"I found something." She told them. "I'll tell you all later. Let's get settled in first." She looked over Weiss and Blake. The faunus had her arm around the heiress, who seemed to be crying recently. "How's Winter?"

"Still asleep. She's not doing any worse though, no life support needed, I suppose that's good." Weiss answered.

"Can't pull the plug if there's no plug to pull." Coco stated.

"Coco!" Velvet was astonished at her leader's bluntness.

"What? I'm trying." Coco shrugged.

The group headed to their respective dorm rooms to unpack. After some time, Weiss and Blake knocked on the door to CFVY dorm. "You said you had found something?" Blake asked Velvet after Fox answered the door.

"Well, yeah, but are you sure you don't want to take more time to settle?" The rabbit asked her cat friend.

Weiss pushed through the door to answer. "There's only one thing that could make you like this. One _person_."

"I'm curious too." Coco told her.

Velvet wasn't prepared to show them so soon, but decided to barrel through. "Okay, look at these." She pulled out a few rose petals. "Do you notice anything?"

Blake looked over them before pointing one out. "That one is different from the rest. It's subtle, but it's more than just being a different breed of rose."

The rabbit girl smiled. "That's because _that_ one is from Ruby. From her speed semblance."

Weiss perked up. "Are you saying you found this recently?"

"In Vale, about a month and a half ago now. I could have sworn I caught Ruby's scent just before I found it." Velvet answered. She looked around to see mostly questioning glances. "I admit, it's rather flimsy, and I'm not asking you to help me. But it's something, and that's more than I've had in _months_. So I'm going to start looking again."

The group around her knew they couldn't change her mind. "When do you plan to start looking?" Weiss asked her.

"A few days into classes, so I can figure out how to search without wearing myself out too much for academia." She answered.

"Alright." Weiss nodded. "I'll join you."

"Are you sure, Weiss?" Blake asked her girlfriend. "What about studies? Winter?"

"She was our team leader. We have to follow this lead, even if it's a dead end already. We owe it to her to try. We can figure out a schedule with Velvet that doesn't interrupt our own schooling. And as far as Winter… there's something I want to ask Junior." The heiress explained. The cat faunus thought for a moment before coming to realization, and nodded. Velvet questioned the couple with a glance. "Sorry, we made a promise. We can't tell you just yet. It has nothing to do with Ruby, don't worry."

With that, the two groups split for the night. Velvet stared out into the sunset, wondering if Ruby was doing the same at this moment. _I'm going to find you. I swear it this time, love._ As Weiss settled to sleep that night, her own thoughts were of Torchwick. There was another living human who saw what happened other than Winter. And Weiss was going to find him and get answers.

* * *

Reaper couldn't enjoy the sunset if she wanted to. She currently strode through one of the massive underground caverns just outside of Vale's walls. Roman had a large compound currently under construction here to keep his new gang out of public sight. Though not yet large by any means, the new gang had more members every day. Its rapid expansion kept Roman confined to a private office, fine tuning deals and details day in and day out. Not that he minded, in fact he seemed to enjoy sitting back and watching his money grow.

Reaper didn't miss the time she lost with Torchwick. Ever since the outfit started growing and she started dealing with him less directly, she's had fewer Red Haze incidents. She was now officially a high ranking lieutenant in the organization, equal to Neo and second only to Torchwick himself. They only spoke using his constantly cycling secretaries as cut outs because Roman was just as uneager to be near any of Reaper's rages as Reaper was to have them. _Sigh… He may frustrate me, but I can't say I don't respect him professionally. He's good at what he does. It's only been a few months since he got back, and he's already got this far._

Neo was another story. She seemed to go out of her way to be around Reaper. Whenever one had to go into Vale, the other always just happened to be on the same assignment. Even their personal houses, small private mansions built down here for each of them (perks of their rank), just happened to be annoyingly close to each other. The windows to the master bedrooms just happened to face each other, and _just happened_ to be three feet apart.

Reaper banished the hard to read creature from her mind. She stepped through her front doors and headed straight for her bed. She had had a long day, and just wanted some sleep. Her kitchen was occupied, however, by Torchwick's current assistant. "Hello, miss Reaper." She stated professionally. _Boy he knows how to pick 'em._ Reaper admired the cute girl and her long brown hair. She was about to say something flirty back when another brown haired girl, one with long rabbit ears, came to mind.

"Yeah, what do you want?" She said instead, coldly. The brunette was unfazed. Reaper already had a reputation for being difficult to work with and work for down here, often cold and occasionally _very_ angry.

"Mr. Torchwick wants you to pay Junior a visit within the next few days. The man is behind on his information-"

"And we need to figure out why he is delayed." The scythe master finished for the girl. "Why me? This is a small job."

"We're still gaining our footing in the underworld."

"Intimidation. Send someone important, show we aren't to be fucked with." Reaper nodded.

"And no one down here is more intimidating than you. It's quite an impressive reputation, honestly."

 _Did she just wink? Is she flirting with me?_ Again, the long eared girl of the past interrupted her thoughts. "I'm sure it is. And likely deserved. Are we done?"

"Um… Yes…" The secretary seemed hurt and disappointed, departing quickly. _Maybe Roman should get a blonde next. No wait, that might be worse…_ Reaper realized that a lot of Roman's recent assistants seemed to hit on her. In fact, quite a few remarks seemed to fly her way lately no matter where they're from. She decided to look over herself in a passing mirror to determine why. _Holy crap… I've filled out like Yang… That's right, I'm about the age she was now… huh…_

Reaper continued to her bedroom, stepping inside to another unwelcome sight. Neo had somehow managed to get inside, and was lying very suggestively and _very_ naked on Reaper's bed. Reaper just sighed and crossed her arms. "What are you doing?" Once again, the multi colored girls peculiarities were far from Reaper's understanding. Neo rolled her eyes and grabbed a scroll from the nearby bedside table.

'Really?' She sent to Reaper's black scroll.

The black clad girl raised an eyebrow. "I don't get you. I'm not in a Red Haze, I don't need this. What I do need is sleep." Neo huffed at Reaper's words, dressing and leaving with an air of frustration, jumping out of Reaper's window and into her own home through hers. "Finally…" She said to her bed, about to drop in when she remembered Neo had been _naked_ on here a moment before. She tore the top sheet off and replaced the blanket before settling in for sleep.

* * *

A few days later, Velvet waited in front of the fountain in the Beacon courtyard. She and the last of team RWBY were going to look for Ruby today, starting with a few questions at Junior's Club. She didn't want to get her hopes up. She knew it may take months, even longer, to find her Rose. But she wasn't going to give up and give into sorrow this time. It was hard not to at least be _hopeful_ after the petal that proved to Velvet that Ruby was somewhere in Vale.

"You ready to go?" She heard Blake ask as her and Weiss drew near. Velvet only nodded, determined to finally find her girlfriend. They made their way through Vale, minds completely on the task at hand. Across town, another small group (a pair actually) resolved to set off for Junior's Club as well. Reaper had no idea how on Remnant Neo managed to get herself attached to this job. Just one of them could handle it. Hell, a random goon could handle it. Why send _both_ of the highest ranking lieutenants? Neo's constant and unexplained presence was starting to wear on Reaper's legendarily short patience.

Junior's Club was, as always, loud and colorful. The man himself stood behind the counter, playing a second bartender to keep an eye on his club. Ever since some crazy blonde blew it up, he liked to keep an eye on the guests. It also allowed him to see when people such as Neo and Reaper showed up. _What the hell are they doing here? It must be important._ "Back office." He told them both, pointing its way with his head, as they came close.

"So what's this about?" He asked them once they were secure in the soundproof office.

"You don't know?" Reaper asked him, hood drawn as always. Junior didn't even know how the girl saw in that thing; he only ever saw the girl's mouth it was pulled so low. "We paid good money for your 'Brochure'."

"You haven't gotten it?" he asked, checking his computer. "I sent it out, the courier told me he got it done."

Reaper and Neo traded glances. "Who was the courier?"

"Some new blood." Junior answered. "He passed my checks. Funny… I haven't seen him since."

Reaper thought about it for a second. Before she made any deductions, she needed to know he was telling the truth. She flashed forward and drew Brutal Thorn, unfolding the all black sniper-scythe and drawing the blade around the front of his neck and spoke from behind him. "You wouldn't lie to us, right Junior?"

"And make you, of all people, angry? Not _all_ of us are insane, Reaper." He told her.

"Were going to need a Brochure." Reaper reminded him.

"Top right drawer. The master copy. I'm done for this month, so just take it." He offered quickly, desperate to get the serrated blade from around his neck. Reaper withdrew Brutal Thorn and picked up the file. Junior's 'Brochures' were filled with all the juicy information a criminal organization could need. Unless there was an active gang war, everyone only utilized intel from their districts, as an unspoken curtesy.

Someone knocked on the door to the office, drawing the attention of all the occupants. Junior looked to Reaper and Neo. "Act normal." Reaper told him, her and Neo shimmering from existence.

"They just keep getting weirder." Junior answered the door. "What? I was in a… something important…"

"Some girls are here, insisting that they speak to you."

"What girls?"

"There's a rabbit faunus dressed in brown, some girl in all white, and a cat girl in all black. The white one says she can pay." Reaper's breathing hitched.

"I'll be right out." He closed the door. "I assume you'll show yourselves out? I have a business to run." He spoke to the apparently empty room before departing. Reaper followed closely, walking into the main room. _It can't be… apparently it can._ She spotted Velvet, Weiss, and Blake at the bar. _What are they doing here?_ Neo noticed them too, and kept herself and Reaper shielded.

Reaper got close enough to eavesdrop while making sure her scent couldn't be picked apart from the crowd by the two faunus. "What do you three want?" she heard Junior ask.

"I'm looking for a girl." Velvet told him. "The picture I have is old, be she couldn't have changed much." She showed him her scroll. He shook his head. "She might have been wearing a black skirt, and a red cloak with a hood?" the rabbit girl pressed. _Velvet is looking for me? Why is she looking for me?_

"That would stand out. Sorry. Is that all?"

"No." Weiss talked this time. "We're also looking for any information you may have on Roman Torchwick."

 _Torchwick? Is Winter awake? Why are they looking for Torchwick? Atlas never said he was the escapee… Ironwood. Of course Winter's sister could get that information from Ironwood._

"Sorry, last I heard he was locked up tight."

"I know for a fact that's not true." Weiss rebutted.

 _If Winter were awake, Weiss wouldn't be as passive as she is about looking for me. I'm sure of it._

"Really now?" Junior said, with mock-interest.

"I can pay." Weiss told him.

Junior looked her up and down. He could tell she was a Schnee. "It would take a lot of money for me to say anything about Torchwick."

"So he's a big player in Vale again?" Blake interjected, catching Junior off guard.

"Not yet. But soon. One doesn't do well in my line of work without anticipating the tides."

Weiss pulled out her wallet. "What will 500 Lien buy me?"

"A cab." Junior played smart-ass.

"A Thousand?" Weiss asked.

Junior thought for a second. "Double that and I can give you a name."

"Two grand for one name?" The heiress asked incredulously.

"It's a good name." Junior assured her. Weiss handed over the cash with a _huff_. "Orange Clockwork. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm busy."

 _Damn it._ Reaper grimaced, _Can't really fault an information broker for doing his job, but god-damn it._ 'Orange Clockwork' was the name of the front company Roman set up to handle laundering and legitimate businesses.

Reaper and Neo got up to leave, going through the back alley. As they rounded to the front, Reaper made sure the girls weren't coming out before continuing. "Where did you find the petal?" Weiss asked Velvet as the Beacon group stepped outside. _Petal? One of mine? Is that why she's looking for me?_

"Around the north part of Industrial." Velvet answered.

 _The train heist. That's where I started my run at the train. What the hell was she doing around there?_

"What were you doing around there?" Blake asked her.

"I was a couple streets over, in Commercial, when I caught her scent."

Reaper waited until the Beacon girls were a good distance away before moving. _It wouldn't be good if Velvet is searching as actively as it just sounded. It'll make it harder to move in Vale when I have to constantly watch out for her._ Add that to what she heard Junior tell them, and Roman was _not_ going to be happy with her report. He had been on the other end of just how persistent her old team can be, and now Reaper knew how annoying it was for a criminal group to have to watch out for a group of _schoolgirls_ on top of all the normal problems.


	9. Act 2: Ch 2

Sometimes, Reaper really wished Neo could speak. Seriously, can she though? She's made plenty of other noises, just not coherent words. Whether she's mute or stubborn, it still stuck Reaper with the task of reporting to Torchwick. This one couldn't be given through a cutout. Reaper marched through the estate and approached his secretary. _Another cute brunette? Wait, it looks like be the same one._

"I'm here to see Roman, he needs to hear what I've got." Reaper told the girl sharply, scaring the poor thing with her sudden entrance.

"Oh! Reaper! I'll buzz him right away." She hit the intercom button. "Mr. Torchwick, Miss Reaper is here to see you."

"I told you I'm in a- wait Reaper wants to see me? This can't be good. This meeting is five minutes from over." His voice came through the device. Reaper leaned against a nearby wall to wait. The brunette secretary kept stealing glances.

"Y-you're really pretty." She eventually told Reaper.

"If you work hard, Roman might wait a week to replace you, unless he gets bored of you sooner." Reaper shot venomously, her eyes turning red. She was sick of how this girl's hair kept reminding her of Velvet. The rest of the five minutes were held in uncomfortable silence. The meeting finally ended, Roman's contact in the Valen police force leaving to make room for Reaper's report.

"So what's so important you decided to see me directly?" Torchwick asked after closing the door.

"A couple things," she started, handing him Junior's Brochure, "apparently the courier that was delivering ours was new, and Junior hasn't seen him since."

"You think someone stole it."

"I think it's more likely someone wanted to us not to get it. We don't quite have our sea legs yet, and someone may see our rise as a threat."

"True. You've learned a lot about this business in such a short time. I'm glad you're not more ambitious. Could give me a run for my money." Roman smiled. "If someone is plotting against us, I need someone I can trust to find out whom."

"It's not the only problem. My old friends from Beacon were at the Club. They were looking for me, and for information on you."

Torchwick eyed Reaper as though it were Junior who would feel his gaze. "What did he tell them and for how much?"

"Two grand for 'Orange Clockwork'."

Roman sighed. "I suppose at current market value, that's not too bad. Man's neutral. Pity." Torchwick started to think through these latest developments. "Would you mind taking off so I have some privacy to think?" He asked Reaper as his secretary brought him tea. The secretary hurried past the scythe girl without making eye contact. "Oh, and stop breaking my girls' hearts, if you would?"

"I wouldn't have to keep doing so if you stopped 'recycling' them every few days." She shouted back at him, turning to leave.

"They get boring!" Reaper heard Torchwick bellow as the door to his office closed. _'Would you mind taking off?_ ' _God that man frustrates me._ Her mood was certainly not improved by catcalling from some random low-level thug as she stepped 'outside'.

"I hear crazy girls are crazy in bed! Why don't you test that with me, baby!"

Reaper stopped short, and turned to face the owner of the voice. Everyone around the smiling idiot backed away. There was talk about two men before now who had tried to hit on the black cloaked girl, and one of them even had a halfway decent pickup line. It seems this man chose to ignore those cautionary tales.

 _Velvet's on the lookout for me, someone's on the warpath against the gang, Neo's acting crazy, Torchwick's secretaries are annoying, the man himself is an ass, and now some sweaty half-ape is hitting on me!?_ Each thought made her eyes brighter. Today. Had been. A. Bad. Day. She placed her hands on her hips and approached the poor soul with a strut and a pretty smile.

"I bet you would _love_ to see how crazy I could be." Reaper told him in a sweet voice.

"Ohhh yeah…" The man couldn't believe his luck. The others around him couldn't believe his stupidity. And Neo, who was passing by, almost couldn't believe her eyes. It had been a while since Reaper blew her lid. Too long, in her opinion. Tonight, Reaper _would_ need to calm down. _Tonight is going to be fun_ , Neo smiled at the thought.

Reaper finished her slow walk up to the man, face full of grin and glowing eyes. Inches away from the man, the grin turned sour. Before the man could react to the sudden shift, Reaper had a vice grip on the male parts no man wants in a vice grip. "How is _this_ for crazy, 'little' boy? I can tell you're new, so here is some free advice. _Don't fuck with the girl who can castrate you with her bare hands_." She felt a _pop_ and warm liquid seeped through the man's pants. She let go and the man fell straight to the ground. "You have one left. I suggest you save it for the not-so-lucky lady who wants it."

Reaper stomped away, staring at the blood on her hand in disgust. She didn't particularly like Torchwick, but she was starting to get how he felt about the common rabble here. They were useful idiots, but they could be revolting. The only thing on her mind was washing her glove thoroughly before taking Brutal Thorn into the wilderness. Until Neo walked by, strutting and twirling her umbrella. _Two birds with one stone. Maybe she'll stop stalking me for a while if I give her what she wants._

Twenty minutes later, Reaper emerged from Neo's bathroom with a clean hand and no top. Between the Red Haze and Neo's recent over eagerness, the girls couldn't tell who was more ferocious this time around. _This was a long time coming…_ the multi colored girl thought, as she had the best night in a long while.

* * *

Weiss found it particularly difficult to focus on her classes the next day. Thoughts of 'Orange Clockwork' dominated her mind. The name had to be important, it cost two thousand Lien. _But what is it!?_ If it could lead to Torchwick, to her sister's attacker, she would find out. Blake noticed her girlfriends thoughts were _far_ from class. Rather than argue with the stubborn heiress, she simply took Weiss's notes for her.

As soon at classes ended, Weiss went straight for the library. Using the terminals there, she logged on to the internet and began researching. The keywords 'Orange' and 'Clockwork' sent a lot of varied results, including a very disturbing movie she ended up watching in its entirety out of boredom. Weiss will never look at Beethoven the same way again. A few hours into her work, after the sun set, Blake finally found her. "How has your search been going?" The faunus asked her exhausted girlfriend.

"Nothing concrete… All I know is that I never want to listen to 'Singing in the Rain' ever again." Weiss responded.

"Excuse me?" Blake was confused.

"Nevermind. There's nothing. Well, it would be more accurate to say I found too much with those two words. Nothing stands out…"

"We need to narrow the search somehow." Blake told her. "Another day. You need sleep now."

"How much money do you think it would take for Junior to just give us everything?" Weiss asked out of frustration.

"You would probably have to pay for his retirement to somewhere _far_ away from Torchwick's influence." Blake answered.

Weiss thought for a moment. "I probably _could_ afford that…"

"Out of the question, unfortunately." Blake informed her. "I highly doubt your father or Ironwood would take kindly to your 'private investigation', and they certainly won't miss you giving a fortune away to a random Club owner."

Weiss groaned. Blake was right, it looked like she was going to have to try and investigate herself. She might miss the time when she could just throw her money at all her problems, if that wasn't tied to a life without Blake. _Blake, my girlfriend, who I have ignored all day while obsessing over Torchwick. Way to go, Weiss._ "How has your day been so far?" the heiress asked the faunus while laying her head on the black cat's shoulder.

"My wrist hurts from taking twice as many notes." Blake noted aloud.

"I'm sorry. I just feel better about these things when I'm doing something about them." Weiss explained, thinking of her sister.

"I understand, I'm not angry." Blake told her. "Just know that I won't cover your notes _every_ day."

"I know, and I wouldn't ask you to. Thank you for doing so today, I'll be better in class tomorrow." The heiress sealed the promise with a kiss.

Back in the poorer parts of vale, a rabbit faunus treaded carefully through the dark streets. Velvet had accidentally lost track of time while looking for Ruby. She also didn't intend to get this far into the more decrepit neighborhoods. But she was a fourth year huntress-in-training; she could handle getting back to Beacon. _It's getting back before the last airship up the cliff leaves without drawing attention to myself that's the problem._

"What are you doing here, bunny?" A vagrant asked as she passed.

Velvet stared him down until she deduced he wasn't causing issues. He was genuinely curious. "Just passing through." She told him.

"Nobody 'passes through' poor town. Especially not someone who looks as well off as yourself. You from that academy, aint ya? The one for the Grimm hunters?"

The man seemed very observant. Perhaps… "Yes I am, and I'm looking for someone. Have you seen a young woman, dark red hair, wears a red hood, and has silver or maybe even red eyes?"

The man shifted uneasily on the sidewalk. "Don't be looking for that around here. People 'round these parts tend to be superstitious, see? And you know what they say about the devil. Speak of him, and he shall come."

"What does that mean?" Velvet asked the man.

"I don't know about a _girl_ , but red hood? Red eyes? There was a local rumor, months back. A grim reaper appeared in the neighborhood, with so much bloodlust even their eyes burned red. I don't put much stock in tales, but there were bodies…"

"Bodies?" Velvet asked, horrified. _There's no way that can be related to Ruby…_

The vagrant nodded. "Faunus. Ex-Fang, all of them, minus the heads. So be careful who you ask around here. The grim reaper seems to be gone now, and people would like it to stay that way."

Velvet thanked the man and continued for Beacon. _Bodies? There's no way that can be Ruby… unless… maybe… Yang's semblance… she almost killed Jaune when she lost control… what am I thinking, Ruby is not a killer! She_ can't _be this 'grim reaper'._

* * *

Reaper sat cross legged on a single seat sofa chair in a back room of her home. Around her were glass cases and frames of various items including a picture of Ruby and Velvet, an old Beacon uniform she had packed when she ran, her old Beacon scroll, her old cloak, and Crescent Rose. Reaper liked to relax back here sometimes, with a tall glass of milk and silence. Sometimes she almost felt like 'Ruby' again while surrounded by the fragments of the innocent huntress.

Her eyes lingered on Crescent Rose, the latest addition to this little vault. Roman had pointed out that her extravagant weapon could be as good of an identifying feature as her old clothing. Once she had the money for materials, she built Brutal Thorn to replace it. Her new sniper scythe was a little longer and all black down to the blades, which were serrated. It was perfect for 'Reaper'.

In fact, that was a theme the redhead had noticed. Every time she had to part with another fragment of 'Ruby', it was replaced with something designed or collected with 'Reaper' in mind. With every piece of the huntress that was thrown away or locked up in here, the girl could feel herself drawing deeper into the darker persona. _Hell, if someone told me even as recently as when I first took the name 'Reaper' in that alley a few months back, that I would soon be ripping off testicles, regularly sleeping with a psychopath and almost flirting with random secretaries, I would never have believed them._

"Excuse me? Miss Reaper, is it?" A voice called from the doorway to the room, behind Reaper. The scythe master turned to see a slim redhead with short, curly hair.

"Who are you?" Reaper asked, looking over the girl.

"I'm Mr. Torchwick's new secretary." The redhead explained.

"Already?" _The not-Velvet girl looked pretty settled in yesterday._

"What does that mean?" The secretary asked.

"It means you may not have the greatest job security." Reaper stood and turned to talk to the redhead properly, face-to-face. The scythe master could feel the secretary's eyes explore her. _Can't Roman get a straight secretary, just once? Guess it's slim pickings in the criminal underworld…_

"I might just need to find an excuse to stay if it means I get to see more of you, Miss Reaper." The girl offered a confident smile as she spoke.

Reaper rolled her eyes. "What do you have for me?"

The secretary just blinked as though she didn't know how to react to being brushed off like that. Eventually regaining her composure, she handed Reaper a folder. "A business model. Methods of operation and the such. It seems Mr. Torchwick has finally worked out all the kinks."

"Thanks." Reaper nodded and took the folder. She sat back down and opened the folder to leaf through it. About halfway through she noticed she never heard the secretary leave. She turned to see the girl still standing in the doorway, as if deciding what to do next. "Need something?" Reaper asked the girl.

"Actually… I was wondering if maybe you needed something? A sandwich, another glass of… milk?" she answered. "I don't have any other duties at the moment…"

 _Is she seriously trying the 'get on the mean girls good side because she might secretly be nice' thing?_ "I'm sure Roman can find something for you to do when you go back there." The scythe master told her. "Which you should be doing." The girl didn't move. "At this very moment." The redhead finally unglued herself from the door and left, head hung low. _Guess she's not used to rejection. I mean, she was pretty hot, so that makes sense._

Reaper closed the folder and drank from her glass of milk, settling back into the mood of the room. She didn't know how long she sat there, staring into nothing, barely thinking at times. She may have even fallen asleep at some point for all she knew, but she was awake to hear another 'guest' enter her house. The 'cli-click cli-click' told her it was likely someone in heels of some kind. _Was the secretary wearing heels? Because if it's not her, it's…_

Neo rounded the chair, stepping into Reaper's vision and looking rather angry while doing so. "What?" Reaper asked her. In reply, Neo pulled out her scroll and pointed at it with an angry finger. _Only Neo can have angry fingers. Just say what you want to say, you crazy mute._ "I turned mine off." Reaper told her, pulling out the black scroll and hitting the power button. There were eight messages from Neo, getting progressively angrier and Reaper's unresponsiveness.

The first message said 'The meeting should be started by now, where are you?'

"Meeting?" Reaper didn't know about any meeting.

Neo hastily typed out a reply. 'Did you not read the folder Roman's redhead delivered? There was a note at the end.'

Reaper groaned. "I started it, but I didn't get to the note." She leaned her head back on the chair. _I am not looking forward to this._ The black scroll buzzed again, bringing Reaper back from the cusp of sleep.

'GET UP!' Neo had typed. _Was I just yelled at by a mute?_ The scythe girl found it humorous.

"Right. Meeting. Torchwick. Yay." Reaper stood and left for Roman's 'villa' as he called it.

Neo hung back for a second to look around the room. She didn't understand why Reaper hung on to pieces of a past the girl could never return to. She was further upset by the related fact that sometimes it seemed Reaper couldn't truly accept her new self. Neo felt she had helped craft 'Reaper' and was quite proud of the part she played. The nights they sometimes enjoyed together were icing on that cake, and something Neo wished she could get more of.


	10. Act 2: Ch 3

Velvet and Weiss were taking in Vale on the weekend. Neither of them made much progress in their relevant searches, and were taking a day off from them. Unless Weiss could figure out how to narrow down 'Orange Clockwork' she was at a dead end, and Velvet just didn't want to think about the possibility of the rumor she heard. For now, they distracted themselves with shopping. "You seriously need more outfits. Did you honestly use to go on dates with Ruby in your Beacon uniform?"

"More often than not, actually." Velvet answered Weiss's question. "Not that she minded. That kind of thing wasn't as important to her as the date itself."

"Well, that's sweet. I still think you need more clothing," Weiss told her, "especially when you find Ruby again. As your friend, I refuse to let you go out in-" She was cut off by the sound of an explosion nearby. The two huntresses only needed to trade glances to know their next task. They rounded the corner to see a storefront on fire. There was someone on the ground, likely knocked back by the explosion, and two people running from the scene. Weiss started to chase the probable assailants, quickly noticing Velvet wasn't following her. "Velvet, hurry!"

"Weiss…" Velvet looked at the figure on the ground. Looking over the individual more closely, Weiss couldn't believe her eyes. Dressed in black jeans, a red button-up, red skate shoes, and her precious red cloak was Ruby Rose. Velvet dropped down beside her long-lost girlfriend, nearly coming to tears. Weiss spotted Crescent Rose, unfolded and on the ground nearby. It looked like Ruby was trying to stop the robbery.

"Velvet!" Weiss grabbed the rabbit faunus's attention and handed her Ruby's now folded weapon. "We need to get her back." Velvet nodded.

A few hours later, silver eyes blinked open to a familiar hospital aesthetic. _It's just the school infirmary… wait what!?_ The redhead shot up and looked around the room, seeing the faces of her friends staring back at her. Team JNPR, Blake, and Velvet looked very happy to see her. Weiss and Coco were expressing their more negative feelings to the girl's previous departure. "I shouldn't be here…"

"Seriously!?" Coco and Weiss shouted simultaneously. Coco continued alone. "You run off in the night, disappearing without a trace for _how long_ , and that's what you have to say!?"

"Coco-" Velvet started.

"No, Velvs." Coco walked to the side of Ruby's cot, even forgoing her sunglasses to look the younger girl dead in her eyes. "Do you even know how much you made your friends worry? How much you made _her_ worry!?" she pointed at the rabbit faunus. "We looked for you. Velvet basically never stopped. And now you're back, and you say you shouldn't be here? I get Yang's semblance makes things difficult, but good lord girl! Now, you are staying, and you are making it up to your girlfriend, or I will shove my fashionable boot so far up your ass _you will taste expensive leather for a week!_ Got it?"

The smaller girl's words stuck in her throat, so she elected for a frightened nod. Coco replaced her sunglasses and rejoined Weiss with a smile. The rest then let themselves crowd around the young girl. It was a little overwhelming, so many 'I missed you's and 'where have you been's (Nora asked 'how was your vacation?'). Soon enough, they dispersed enough to allow Velvet close enough to wrap her arms around the girl. "I missed you so much."

The young redhead slowly wrapped her own arms around Velvet. "I missed you too…" The rabbit then took her girlfriend face into her hands and planted a long awaited kiss on the girl's lips.

"I do believe I designed a rule for that." Ozpin walked into the infirmary. "Something about 'public displays'. Though I suppose I could overlook it this once." He made his way to the occupied cot. "Your aura absorbed any possible damage from the explosion. The shockwave must have been what knocked you out. You're free to leave the hospital wing. Ms. Scarlatina, would you fetch Ruby's belongings? I would like a word alone with Ms. Rose."

Velvet nodded, and the rest of them left with her, leaving the scythe master alone with Ozpin. "I have to know, why did you leave?" he asked the girl.

"I'm dangerous." She answered truthfully. "I didn't want to hurt my friends. Hurt Velvet…"

"I see. You left to try and learn how to control your sister's semblance on your own?" The girl nodded to answer. "Where did you go?"

"I mostly stayed outside the walls. I've rarely been in Vale at all. I had to steal new clothes when I outgrew my old ones, and occasionally get food, which is what I was doing when those guys robbed that store."

Ozpin looked at the girls eyes with an unreadable expression before nodding, seemingly accepting the answer. "You didn't have to leave, you know." The redhead dropped her gaze. "Ruby, I'm going to tell you something I should have told you before. When I decided to take you in two years early, I had to make a promise to your father and your uncle. I promised that I would watch over you as if you were my own niece. If there is a way to help you, I promise you I will find it."

The girl looked at Ozpin in amazement. She never knew this detail before. It made sense though. She was the youngest student to attend Beacon in generations. It wasn't often people got pulled up in combat schools, dangerous as they are. She gave Ozpin a smile, but inside, she lamented. _If only you knew, there is no more helping me._

Over at the nurses station, Velvet received the box of Ruby's personals. She saw her girlfriend and Ozpin still talking, so she leafed through the box to pass the time. Ruby's new clothing looked good on the girl as a casual look. Her old Goth getup was cute, but a little over the top sometimes. There was also her Beacon-issued scroll, which held obvious signs of neglect as well as a large crack down the screen. _She'll probably need a new one._ At the bottom of the box lay Crescent Rose and the cloak.

As Velvet's fingers absent mindedly traced over the objects, she felt something strange, a hard spot in Ruby's cloak. She fumbled with the object until she found a secret pocket she didn't know existed, and something hidden inside it. _A black scroll? Where did she get this? What is it for?_ Velvet didn't know why, but she felt uncomfortable holding the device. She took a peek around before slipping it into her pocket. She didn't like how it made her feel and wanted to check it out.

* * *

 _Three days earlier_

Reaper made her way to Torchwick's office for this strange meeting she was late for, followed closely be Neo. The multi colored girl was till ticked at Reaper for shutting off her scroll. Not that Reaper much cared what Neo thought of her 'Ruby Room'. Just because she was survivor now didn't mean she didn't occasionally miss the simpler life of the past. The redheaded secretary spotted their approach and gave Reaper a warm smile. "Good evening. Roman is just inside waiting, Miss Reaper. Miss Neopolitan."

"You don't give up, do you?" Reaper asked the woman.

"I've never lost yet." She told Reaper. _A little cocky, eh? Pretty, too. I could get used to you…_

Reaper decided to sit on the girl's desk and flash her a smile. "Maybe you _do_ deserve a reward. Let's talk sometime, red." Reaper told her sweetly before hopping off and proceeding into Roman's office. Neo hung back to give the secretary a sweet smile, though inside the multi-colored girl was screaming. Something about her _really_ didn't like how Reaper just flirted with this girl. Torchwick was treating a guest as the girls arrived in the office. A thin, gray, well-dressed man.

"Ah, Reaper, finally. What kept you?" Roman sounded irritated.

"My scroll was off. I was trying to relax. This criminal stuff can be fun, but the hours are killer." She replied.

"Well, let's get on with this thing. Our friend here is Don Palette. Don Palette, this is Reaper."

Reaper raised an eyebrow. Palette Mafia wasn't huge, but it was well respected. Why was he meeting with a fresh gang like Torchwick's?

"I've heard a lot about you, Reaper." Don Palette stood to shake her hand.

Reaper accepted the handshake. "Good or bad?"

"Well, my dear, that depends on your point of view." He told her with a smile. Reaper smirked back. "Now that we're all here, let's talk. Your boss and I have already discussed things."

"Yes." Roman took his cue. "He's offered to support us, help give us standing."

"What about your own legacy?" Reaper asked.

"I have one son with no desire and another with no ambition. One who doesn't want to run things, and one with no intelligence to run it well. I'm tired, I've earned my retirement. The Valen Underworld is a delicate balancing act. I can't trust my sons to not upset that balance, for the good of us all."

"So what do we do to earn your support?" Reaper knew this world was one of give and take, this for that.

"As I said, I'm ready to retire. I have a wonderful home waiting in Atlas for my sons and me. But certain incriminating files are keeping me from leaving the kingdom. I need them to disappear." He told her.

"Files that important are kept on government and military servers. One would need to be _really_ important to have access, and those places are near impossible to break into. You would need a man on the inside." Reaper stated.

Don Palette looked to Torchwick. "And you say she's only been in the business a few months? Impressive."

"You're right Reaper," Roman said, "But you're missing something. Hunters are above even the military. Ozpin would have access."

"Ozpin's private files are no easier to break into, you would still need someone on… the… inside…" Reaper came to a realization. "Oh no, _hell_ no! You know how I feel about going anywhere _near_ Beacon!"

"Your old friends are already looking for you, right?" Roman said. "They just need to find you."

"I'm not going to be able to pull this off and keep my identity secret!" Reaper shouted, her eyes beginning to tint.

"How long are you expecting to stay hidden from your Beacon buddies anyway?" Roman shouted back.

"Grrr… I need to think!" Reaper stomped out of the office and onto a nearby balcony.

"Give her a minute, Don Palette." Torchwick sighed. "She'll come around, I'm sure."

Neo decided to follow the girl onto the balcony. Reaper was brought out of her deep thought by her black scroll buzzing. 'Why do you insist on them never finding out anyway? You already know you can't truly return.'

"It's not about being able to return, Neo. It's about preserving their memory of me." Reaper turned to face Neo. The multi-colored girl gave a confused look. "When they think of me now, they think of the innocent little huntress, Ruby Rose. Of happy memories, of an energetic and hopeful being. That's not who I am anymore, and if they knew that, it would likely devastate them."

'You know you can't keep it up forever, especially if you plan to stay with us.' Neo buzzed Reaper's scroll. 'You can always return to the way you were when I found you, but you can't return to Beacon, and you can't keep their memories up forever.'

"I know that, I just wish I could." Reaper sighed. She returned to Roman's office and walked up to Don Palette. "Alright, you got a deal. I've never done undercover/spy stuff before. I'm going to have to lie to some of my oldest friends, and people that were once more important than that. I'm sure you have people with experience in your organization, and I could stand to learn a thing or two."

Don Palette smiled. "Of course, I'll send someone. I'm glad I can rely on you. I've heard many good things about your work ethic. Not many people have the resolve to _kick_ a train off its tracks."

* * *

Reaper changed out of her hospital gown behind a closed curtain. As soon as she lifted her cloak over her shoulders, she could tell something wasn't right. It was too light. _The only person who might notice that is Velvet, and she picked up my clothes for me. Dammit, she has the black scroll. So much for keeping it a secret. But she didn't confront me about it… perhaps there's still something I can figure out…_

She stepped out from behind the curtain, fully clothed with a practiced smile on her face. She was happy to be back here. She was happy to be with Velvet again. She was Ruby Rose. Well, at least one of those were kind of true… she did miss Velvet. As expected, she was the hardest to lie too. Everyone else was surprisingly easy, but she nearly got stuck on Velvet. Reaper couldn't help but think if the desolation the rabbit girl would feel upon learning the truth…

"So, Ruby… I… it's been so long, and now that you're back, I don't know what to say." Velvet looked as though she was two seconds away from shedding tears of joy. Again.

Reaper hugged the girl. "How about food? It feels like dinnertime." _I can do this. 'Ruby' is a character I am intimately familiar with._

Velvet laughed. "Yes, love. Food sounds wonderful. Will the cafeteria do?"

"It'll be perfect, Velv." The pair made their way through Beacon hand in hand. Velvet's grip was a little tighter than it needed to be, but that was fine with her. She had resolved to never let Ruby go again. Gathering their food and sitting at the table, it almost felt like old times, almost felt like Ruby never vanished.

"What are we going to do about classes?" Weiss asked her old team leader.

"I talked to Ozpin about that. Until I get settled in and caught up, we're going to keep glued to JNPR like you have been." Reaper, acting her part as Ruby, told her. "There's also something else."

"What is it?"

Reaper looked to Weiss. "Given what I did, everything that's happened… I don't deserve to be team leader anymore. I talked to Ozpin, and, effective tomorrow, you will officially be the leader of team RWBY."

Weiss dropped her fork, staring at the girl in shock. "I couldn't possibly… Ruby, you're team leader! I can't just take your place!"

"Ozpin tried to talk me out of it too, but this is my decision. I'm stepping down. I'm surprised you never took the role while I was gone. I was sure you, of all people, didn't think I'd come back. In the end, I kinda returned on accident…"

Weiss fell silent, soaking in the news, as others took their turns questioning Ruby. She answered them with the cover scenario she had created. Again, she found it surprisingly easy to lie to her old friends. And, again, she found Velvet the most difficult to talk to. They made time for themselves after class, walking alone, when Velvet asked a question that made Reaper uncomfortable.

"Do you remember what you asked me the night you left?"

Reaper's heart skipped a beat. "Umm… yeah…"

"Do… do you maybe… want to try it tonight?" Velvet didn't care about her team mates or their jokes. She wanted to stay with Ruby, to hold her close and never let go.

Reaper's heart skipped another beat before speeding up entirely. _God_ did she want to, more than anything she wanted to say yes. _But you won't will you? You can't let yourself._ Reaper would maybe be here a few days, if her cover wasn't blown first. She couldn't move forward with Velvet if she was just going to abandon her again, it wouldn't be fair to the poor girl…

"When I asked you, it was because I thought it would be my last chance… I just got back, and… I don't want to get overwhelmed." Reaper invented, dropping her gaze to the ground. _Half of that statement was honest at least._

Velvet's smile faltered. "So… you were already planning to go when you asked…" Reaper nodded. "And what you told me… was that your last chance too?"

Reaper stopped Velvet and herself to look the girl in the eyes. "It _was_ a gift, Velv… but I swear it was true. I… I love you."

Velvet looked back into her girlfriends eyes and drew her into a hug. "I love you, too."


	11. Act 2: Ch 4

The couple's walk ended at RWBY dorm. Reaper was surprised when they stepped inside. Somehow, she didn't imagine Weiss and Blake would alter the room. But now she could see the bunkbeds were gone, replaced by a single, slightly larger bed with its headboard pushed to the right wall. The rest of the room was repurposed into what looked like a den area with a few chairs, the old sofa, and a coffee table. The bed confirmed suspicious Reaper had about the two team mates she left behind.

"So when did you two start dating?" she asked them. The pair, along with Velvet, were thrown off guard by the sudden question. None of them were expecting Ruby to be so observant.

"A little over a month after you left." Weiss finally answered.

"Congratulations!" Reaper put on a bright smile.

"Thank you." Blake smiled. The black and white pair were honestly concerned with how Ruby would take the information. Reaper really was happy for them. They deserved a little happiness in their lives, all the better that they found it in each other. "So," the cat girl continued, "where are we going to put your bed?"

 _Bed? Pfft… they would only have to get rid of it later._ "I'll be fine on the couch." Reaper replied.

Her team mates traded uneasy looks. "Are you sure? Moving a single bed is really no trouble." Weiss asked.

"It's not like I'm planning to run again." Reaper told them, surprising her friends with yet another astute deduction. "I just haven't even slept on something as comfortable as a couch in a long time. Slow adjustments. I'll get a bed in a few weeks, okay?"

"Are you sure you don't want to reconsider my offer?" Velvet asked, hopeful.

Reaper stepped close and kissed her. "I'm sorry, Velvet. I love you."

Velvet nodded and sent a small smile. "I love you too, Ruby. Goodnight." With that, the rabbit girl left the dorm for her own bed. Along the way, she thought on everything that happened. On the surface, she was the same Ruby. But there were little differences… sometimes Ruby hesitated before responding to Velvet. And while she could feel that the girl's 'I love you' was genuine, there was a sadness to her voice when she spoke it. _She must have gone through things that changed her. Things I doubt she wants to talk about. Perhaps there's something on that scroll…_

She spent the rest of the night as she normally did, except when her team settled for bed, she stayed awake until she heard them snoring. Once Fox's breathing altered and Velvet knew she was the only one still awake, she pulled out the black scroll. It still felt wrong in her hands, like it had some vile purpose to its existence. She opened it to see the device was password protected. _A ten digit code… what's ten letters long that Ruby would use for a password?_

Velvet's first instinct was 'strawberry'.

 _Passcode Denied._

She searched her mind before smiling and typing in her own last name, Scarlatina.

 _Passcode Denied_

Her smile faltered. She continued to think, but couldn't come up with any more ten letter words that Ruby would use. She decided she should try it with a less tired mind. Tossing the scroll under her pillow, Velvet allowed herself to walk her dreams. For several minutes, the room was deathly quiet. Then, the window to the room opened very slowly. A shadow dropped silently to the floor and began searching the room without waking its occupants.

Making sure everything she moved was restored to its original place, Reaper soon stood over Velvet. Slowly, carefully, she slid her hand under the girl's pillow. Reaper smiled as her hand felt the scroll, and she extracted it without waking her old girlfriend. Fox woke with an uncomfortable feeling, and quickly scanned the room. Nothing was out of place and the window was closed. He shrugged it off as a fluke and lay back down.

Outside on the grounds, Reaper breathed a sigh of relief. _There were so many ways that could have gone wrong. But I made it, and it looks like Velvet couldn't break into it._ She opened the scroll and was greeted by the password screen. Reaper had set it with something easy for her to remember, and something her old friends could never guess in a million years.

N-E-O-P-O-L-I-T-A-N

 _Passcode Accepted_

Finally, after a full afternoons delay, Reaper could begin her mission. She opened up Neo's contact and sent her a message. 'Infiltration successful. Weiss seems uneasy, but they suspect nothing.' She waited a few moments and felt the buzz of a response.

'Await orders.'

 _Await orders? What the hell? How long!?_ Reaper took a deep breath. They must still be fine tuning things on the other end. It had only been one afternoon. She slipped back into her own dorm and checked on her team mates. Seeing they were asleep, she checked the note she left. She had written 'Nightmare. Had to cool off. Be back soon.' on a napkin and left it face down. If the girls read it, it would be near impossible to replace as though it was never picked up, which they would only try if they truly suspected something.

 _If they didn't wake up, there's no need for them to know I was gone._ Reaper rationalized, crumpling the note into her pocket and returning to the couch.

* * *

The next morning at breakfast, Reaper joined the table next to an anxious Velvet. "What's up?"

"Oh! Ruby! It's nothing, just… oh Ruby, I'm so sorry…" Velvet responded, falling into a gloom.

"Sorry? For what?" Reaper raised an eyebrow.

"I found your black scroll… and I had a bad feeling about it, so I wanted to check it out, but… I think I lost it somehow… I'm sorry…" Velvet looked up to see a blank stare on Ruby's face.

"I never had a black scroll."

"What? But it was in the pocket you had on… your… what?" Velvet checked Ruby's cloak and saw no sign of a secret pocket.

"Are you feeling alright Velvs?" Reaper brought her hand up to Velvet's cheek and looked onto her with concern.

"Um… yeah, I am…" Velvet was confused. _Could I really have imagined the whole thing? I should have shown the scroll to one of my team mates… but if it didn't really exist… maybe that's why I didn't?_ "I guess you coming back and everything changing so quickly again… I must have mistaken some daydream or something. I'm fine, love."

Reaper grumbled, showing doubt, while on the inside she couldn't believe that actually worked. Hopefully her luck continued to hold out. "If you say so, Velv." They returned to their meal as the others started showing up. Reaper noticed Weiss visibly relax upon seeing her.

"You were gone before we were awake again, part of me thought, perhaps…" Weiss explained.

"I'm still here, princess." Reaper gave her a warm smile.

"Hey, Ruby?" Velvet brought her girlfriends attention back to her. "There's something I haven't done much since you've been gone… I want to go to the arcade with you again."

Reaper smiled. She had missed that too. "Sounds like a plan." They finished their meal quickly and left, leaving the teams behind.

"Well, it looks like little red's trying to make up with Velvet alright." Coco noted. "I kinda wish Velv would resist a little, make her work for it."

Blake nodded. "It would only be fair. But it's not our place to design their relationship."

"Unfortunately." Coco agreed. Weiss left the table during this conversation, and Blake noticed she had yet to return. The cat girl politely excused herself and set off to find her girlfriend. She soon found her pacing in a back corner of the main hall with a look of deep thought on her face.

"You okay, Weiss?" Blake advanced cautiously.

"Doesn't it seem a little convenient to you?" Weiss turn and questioned the faunus.

"What do you mean?"

"Just when we start to look for her again, she shows up. And so quickly everything returns to normal. How much of that is because of her suddenly cooperative attitude?" Weiss continued.

"You mean Ruby? What are you saying Weiss?" Blake asked.

"Something just seems off about her… refusing a bed, stepping down from team leader. She's making up with Velvet, but refusing her offer to advance their relationship, even slightly." The heiress answered.

"Yeah something's off," the faunus responded, "but she's spent the last how many months surviving, living off the land, outside the walls? And Yang's semblance? She didn't feel like she was ready to come back yet, we made her stay."

"But it just doesn't make any sense!" Weiss resisted.

"Except it does. Ruby has explained everything. Weiss," Blake threw her arms around her restless girlfriend, "We've had a lot of reasons to cry in the past while. Don't you think we're owed some smiles?"

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, you mean?" Weiss grumbled, returning the hug.

"I was trying to be a bit more tactful." Blake frowned. Weiss sighed. _Maybe she's right. I'm over-analyzing this. So much has gone wrong… and instead of enjoying something gone right, I'm waiting for it all to go to hell again… maybe this time really is different._

* * *

Reaper found that after so long out of practice, Velvet was not an opponent to underestimate. For once, the red dressed girl lost more than she won. But she didn't care, because Velvet was happy. And with how sad she would be later, she deserved this day. Eventually they abandoned the arcade towers for the skee-ball game. Even before she left, Reaper was terrible at skee ball. _I just can't predict the trajectories as well as Velvet… I throw a better fastball, and I don't even play baseball… wait a minute…_

Reaper smiled and instead of rolling the ball, took aim and pitched it straight into the 1000 point hole.

"Ruby! That's cheating!" Velvet slapped her girlfriends arm.

"Come on! You're like, a million points ahead! I've always sucked at this game, call it a handicap!" Reaper pitched a second ball for 1000 points.

"If you keep throwing them into the slot that hard, it's going to break the machine." Velvet told her.

"Ugh, fine!" Reaper pitched her final ball into the 500 slot so she wouldn't pass her old girlfriend's score. "I won't do it again, okay?" They gathered their tickets and moved on to another game. Reaper stopped them at one of the many claw machines. She had become a far more analytical and cautious person since she left Beacon, and wanted to test those skills.

"Love, these are impossible." Velvet hated claw machines.

"Not impossible, just really difficult." Reaper spent her quarters and spent a few moments setting up her angle. The girls watched as Reaper hit the button. The claw descended, gripped the doll Reaper picked out, and sent it into the collection box on the first try.

"No way!" the rabbit girl was astounded. "You were lucky! You cannot do that twice!"

Reaper only smirked as she put in more quarters. Two tries and she had two dolls. Then a third. And a fourth, fifth, sixth. Velvet watched in amazement and Reaper spent half their Lien and cleared out the entire machine without missing a single grab. "Now, what are we going to do with fifty little stuffed animals?" Reaper asked.

As Velvet pondered this, she turned to see the audience of kids that had gathered, all of them 13 and younger. The rabbit girl held onto an Ursa plushy and offered the rest to the crowd. "Now wait a minute, I practically bought all these! It wasn't as easy as I made it look!"

"Ruby!" Velvet dragged the girl away as the children all pounced onto the pile of stuffed creatures. "What's gotten into you?"

The younger girl was about to answer when she realized what she was doing. She was having so much fun, she had forgotten she was supposed to be playing 'Ruby' and let too much 'Reaper' through. _Ruby would have agreed to give the stupid dolls away immediately. Hell, Ruby would have come up with that idea before Velvet did._ "I'm sorry Velv… I guess I got a little carried away…" Reaper cursed herself for almost blowing it.

The black scroll buzzed in her pocket as they closed in on their next game. "Hey, I'll be right back. Bathroom." Velvet nodded and set up to play a round of the game by herself. Reaper entered the bathroom and pulled out the scroll. 'Alley' was all the message said. She then secreted herself out the back door of the arcade and saw the redheaded secretary waiting for her.

"We gotta make this quick and quie- holy shit what happened to you?"

"Just a little accident…" Roman's assistant nervously answered, gesturing to the left side of her face that now had a large and disfiguring scar. "Anyway, quick, quiet, I know. Take this." She handed Reaper a small electronic device.

"What is it?" Reaper asked her.

"It will get you into Ozpin's office. Next time you get a chance, attach this to the keypad somewhere out of sight. It will slowly decode the passkey and send the code to the scroll when it's done." She responded.

"How slowly?"

"A day, maybe two."

 _I have to keep the act up for a day or two longer. If today is any indicator, it may be harder than I first thought._ Reaper scowled. "I best get back. I'll see you around, red."

"Not likely, honestly…" Reaper gave her a puzzled look. "Like you said, poor job security."

"What about 'finding a way to stick around'?" the scythe master questioned.

"I should look for opportunities elsewhere first…" she refused to meet Reaper's eyes and turned to walk away.

Reaper wasn't bothered that she was losing a prospect with red. She wasn't about to get hung up on some poor secretary she was likely to dump after a single fun night anyway. What bothered Reaper was the _way_ it happened. "I may not be able to see you, but I can always feel an uneasy tension in the back of my neck when you're watching me." Neo shimmered into existence beside her. "That wasn't an accident. That was your umbrella. What the hell is your problem?" Reaper shook the black scroll to show she demanded an answer.

'She didn't know her place.' Neo eventually replied.

 _Didn't know her place? What the hell does that mean?_ "Wait… you're not… it's not because we hit on each other?" Neo only crossed her arms in response. "What the hell!?" Reaper whisper-shouted, trying to stay quiet. "I don't belong to you, Neo! I appreciate you helping when I need to calm down, but if I want to enjoy myself with someone else, you have no right to chase them off!" Reaper shoved the black scroll back deep into her pocket and stormed back inside the arcade. Neo was left in the alley with a genuinely hurt look on her face.

Velvet saw Ruby coming back. "Hey did you fall in? I almost sent a search par-... Uh oh… Ruby, your eyes."

"Just some assholes in the bathroom." Reaper told her quickly, not needing to ask if they had turned red. "Let's get home before I start destroying the machines."


	12. Act 2: Ch 5

Once Reaper's eyes started to turn red, it was nearly impossible to calm her back down before the Red Haze. Only twice in the past, when she was still Ruby, had she managed to finish a day with red eyes and not overflow. The nightmares she had were the price to pay to avoid a rampage, and she woke the next morning silver eyed again. Reaper was hoping she could accomplish that feat a third time, confining herself to a study room and only allowing Velvet in for company.

But she had to join the student body one more time before the end of today. Making through dinner in the cafeteria mess hall was the real test. As she sat down, she could tell that team JNPR were the only people Velvet hadn't already informed. Jaune recoiled, trading seats with Pyrrha to gain distance from Reaper. Pyrrha had a fearful look in her eye, but only for a second. Nora elected to stop talking without Ren's insistence for once. Ren remained stoic as ever, though glanced at Reaper's eyes long enough for the girl to register his surprise.

"Why are you out here and not in the dorm?" Weiss asked, keeping her tone level.

"I don't have my new scroll yet. Can't scan myself in until it arrives." Reaper answered as evenly as she could. Weiss nodded, remembering Ruby had come back with her old Beacon scroll broken. Thankfully the group returned to silence. Reaper realized it wasn't out of fear, but because they were trying to help her not get any worse the only way they could. _Well a quiet dinner is exactly what I hoped for. I might just pull this off._

Unfortunately, Reaper would not get her wish.

Velvet left to get a refill of her drink halfway through the meal. A few moments later, the sound of her pleading voice reached Reaper's ears. "Cardin, stop! Please, stop…" She slowly turned to see the bully tugging on one of her old girlfriend's ears once again, while spouting off some stupid nonsense and insults. She could feel her fist tighten, and barely registered the rest of her groups growing apprehension. _Still an asshole, Cardin? You picked the wrong day for it…_

Velvet looked over and saw Ruby rise from her seat and begin walking over, her eyes starting to glow. "Cardin, stop!" She tried and failed to warn him, her cries only aggravating Reaper. Cardin ignored the plea, but the rest of his team noticed Ruby's approach. They all ran with the exception of Sky, who tried to alert his leader.

"Cardin, you should _really_ stop."

"Why, Sky? You a faunus lover now?"

" _Cardin, she's back_!"

"Who's back?" Cardin looked over and finally saw Ruby. His face immediately changed to one of horror. "Oh, Shi-" He was interrupted by Reaper's fist meeting his face and sending him flying halfway across the cafeteria. He lay there with a bloody broken nose, frozen by Reaper's crimson stare.

"How long after I left did this start happening again?" Reaper asked Velvet without breaking her stare down.

"Ruby,-"

"How long!?"

"… Two weeks…"

Reaper's fists tightened further. "I'm sorry, Velv…"

"Ruby…" Velvet tried, but it was too late. The scythe master was already zeroing in on where Cardin now lay. She grabbed him by the throat and dragged him to the far wall, lifting him and slamming against the stone hard enough to crack it. Reaper brought their noses less than an inch from each other and stared right into his eyes.

"Listen closely, you _dick_ ," she whispered so only he would hear, "your days of hate mongering are over. Even if I vanish again, even after we graduate, _even ten years from now_ , if I ever catch wind that you have mistreated _any_ faunus, especially one of my friends, _I will not hesitate to kill you._ Am I understood? Oh, and don't tell _anyone_ what I just said, or… you get the picture."

He nodded frantically in response, seeing the truth of her statement in her eyes. Reaper turned and spun, using the momentum to throw Cardin out of a nearby window. Realizing she needed to get far away from people, Reaper stormed right out of the cafeteria. It wasn't until she was standing at the door to RWBY dorm that she remembered she couldn't get in alone. Not letting that stop her, she kicked the door in and went straight into the bathroom, locking herself inside.

 _That son of a BITCH! Still get your kicks from hurting Velvet!? I WILL kill you! No… I can't… calm down girl… I need to calm down… Grimm. Crescent Rose. Emerald Forest. I need to leave now…_ Reaper leaned back against the bathroom door, trying to control her breathing. _I almost wish Neo were here right now… she could calm me down…_ Reaper felt one of her hands travel down her stomach. She stopped it at her waistband as her eyes widened. _What am I doing? Thinking of Neo, of all people, at a time like this? And I almost… what am I thinking!?_

 _ **You're thinking of how good she makes you feel.**_

Reaper froze and looked around the bathroom. _Where the hell did that voice just come from?_ "Is somebody there?"

 _ **You're thinking of how much you secretly enjoy her touch, how she rocks your world.**_

Reaper's hand started to slide further, as if egged on by the mysterious feminine voice, the stranger somehow overpowering her will. She ripped it out and clenched both of her fists at her side. _I will not allow myself to do that, thinking of her._ "Who's there? Show yourself!"

 _ **Wait… you can hear me? You can finally hear me?**_

"Finally?" Reaper asked. "What do you mean, finally?"

 _ **I have waited a long time to properly talk to you.**_

"Where are you?" Reaper asked. _Who are you?_ She added in her mind, intending to ask it next.

 _ **Who am I?**_ The Voice responded, shocking Reaper as she didn't ask that one out loud. _**You know who I am, 'Ruby'.**_ Reaper slowly scanned the bathroom once more, stopping at the mirror, at her own red eyes, with a terrifying recognition. _**That's right! I am the devil on your shoulder. The devil you created. If there is a line between 'Ruby' and 'Reaper', I am what's on the other side.**_

"No…" Reaper realized The Voice came from inside of her own head. That's how it knew her thoughts, spoke secret truths she was frightened to accept.

 _ **Poor little Ruby Rose…**_ The Voice continued, laughing. _**All she wanted was to save her precious sister's life. And all you did was damn yourself to walk the path to madness. Enjoy the trip, girl. I know I will.**_

"Shut up!" Reaper yelled, punching the mirror in the hopes it would somehow punch The Voice. As the glass shattered, the bathroom door was wrenched open by Weiss, Blake and Velvet. Reaper's eyes passed over all of them in turn, ending on Velvet.

 _ **Ohhh… maybe she can help us? You think she's anything like Neo in bed?**_

Reaper growled and shoved past the girls, grabbing Crescent Rose before flashing away. _**We are going to have soooo much fun together…**_ The Voice continued to tempt and tease Reaper as she ran to the Emerald Forest, laughing the whole time. She sped through the forest, looking for signs of a large gathering of Grimm. She found one, though not quite as she anticipated.

The Grimm here were all dead already, their broken bodies dissolving away. She managed to examine the wounds on one before it vanished, and didn't like what she saw. "What are you doing here?" she asked aloud. Neo stepped out from behind a nearby tree, twirling her umbrella.

 _ **Oh ho! Lucky us!**_

"You seriously think we are going to do anything? You're one of the reasons I'm pissed off at the moment!" Reaper shouted, ignoring The Voice. Neo answered by leaning on her umbrella and gesturing toward a nearby cave with a suggestive smile.

 _ **Come on! You know you want to. Remember that thing she does with her-**_

"Shut up!" Reaper cocked her head away from Neo to yell at the ground. Neo's smile was replaced by a puzzled look.

 _ **Talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity, you know.**_

"Clearly, I'm already insane." Reaper told The Voice. Neo watched on as the girl began pacing, almost forgetting she was there. "It doesn't mean I'm going to give you what you want."

 _ **Oh please, girl. You may be aware of me now, but you'll do no better resisting me. Besides, you know you want it too.**_

"No, I don't."

 _ **Did you already forget about what you did, oh sorry,**_ **almost** _ **did in the bathroom?**_

"That wasn't me, that was you."

 _ **That distinction doesn't exist, you know that right? I am you, or at least a part of you. If I want something, you want it to. I'm just the half that's honest with ourself.**_

"But… I don't…"

 _ **Just give in, girl. It's so much easier when you do. Hurry, she's waiting for us…**_

Reaper stopped pacing as her breathing became more erratic. Neo watched with vested interest as this developed. It didn't take a lot of deductive skill for the multi-colored girl to realize what was happening. She had been a careful observer of Reaper's descent, and had seen how sometimes she really did seem to become a different person at the drop of a hat. If that other person had a voice in Reaper's mind now, Neo was curious as to the half of the conversation she couldn't hear.

Her brain power was spent elsewhere from that moment on. Reaper finally moved again, closing in on Neo and crashing their lips together. She half carried, half dragged Neo into the cave and gave into herself, and into Neo. Much to the multi-colored girl's pleasure.

* * *

 _ **God I love that girl…**_

 _No you don't. Even I know we don't have any real feelings for her._

 _ **We just love what she can do to us, right?**_

…

 _ **You know I'm right.**_

Reaper redressed after showering in the locker rooms. If Blake or Velvet had smelled Neo all over her, it wouldn't help her cover, so she didn't risk going straight to the dorm. Once she did arrive and was about to knock when she had a sense of déjà vu. _It's even midnight again. I need my new scroll._ Reaper took a deep breath and knocked on the door, which was immediately opened. Not by Weiss this time, but by Velvet, who jumped out and threw her arms around the girl.

"Wasn't it you who once said something about hugging random people?" Reaper asked her.

"I knew it was you…" Velvet told her, tapping her nose.

Reaper smiled and drew her own arms around the girl. No matter what happened, even with Neo, even with The Voice, she knew she loved this girl. She was going to miss this more than anything. They stood there holding each other for nearly a full minute without moving or speaking. Eventually they broke away. "You okay now, love? Done what you need to do?" Velvet asked.

"Yeah, I'm calm. Just tired now." Reaper replied.

"I'm sorry about all that…"

"It wasn't your fault. Cardin was the asshole."

Velvet smiled. "You know… my offer from last night still stands, if you want to take it."

 _ **You should take it. Who knows how much longer we'll be here.**_

 _No. I won't let you anywhere near her. You had Neo. Velvet is where I draw the line._

"Sorry, Velv…"

Velvet didn't lose her smile as she began to walk to her dorm. "I'm going to keep asking until you say yes, just so you know. Goodnight, Ruby. I love you."

"I love you too, goodnight!" Reaper smiled and stepped inside RWBY dorm. Weiss was asleep, but Blake had waited up for Ruby. They traded 'goodnights' and went to their respective beds (Though Reaper's 'bed' was actually the couch). Reaper settled in, eager for sleep, but The Voice wouldn't let her go just yet.

 _ **We should really have some fun with her.**_

Reaper tried to ignore it.

 _ **Come on, you do love her after all. How many chances are you going to have to be with her once we're done here?**_

 _I shouldn't even be with her this much while I'm here. It's going to break her heart again when I leave. I really am selfish now…_

 _ **So why not indulge?**_

 _Do you ever stop talking?_

 _ **I'm a voice in your head, darling. Talking is literally all I can do.**_

 _Can we please just get some sleep?_

 _ **Fine, fine, I'll shut up for now. But this Velvet thing isn't over. Oh, and we should go to Ozpin's office in the morning to ask for our scroll.**_

 _Why? If it comes in they'll just deliver it to us._

 _ **Ozpin's. Office.**_

 _Oh. Good idea._

* * *

Reaper waited in the reception area for Ozpin's office. It would have been difficult to get anywhere near the keypad without cameras picking her up, but if she had an excuse to be here it would help her get close. It really was a good plan, she didn't know whether to congratulate The Voice or herself. The Voice said it, but logic told Reaper a voice in her head couldn't have greater intelligence and knowledge than she already possessed. Technically, she did come up with the plan, and just used an imaginary voice as a medium.

 _It's a strange feeling to know you're crazy and also be smart enough to see things from a saner point of view._

 _ **I'd still give me all the credit.**_

 _Of course you would._

 _ **By that logic, you do realize that everything I want to do with Velvet and Neo, it's really you that's pushing it.**_

… _Shut up._

"Ms. Rose, Professor Ozpin is ready for you."

Reaper nodded at the receptionist and headed into the elevator. Unless Ozpin was already in the office to buzz you up, the only way to get the elevator up there was to use the access code on the keypad. Reaper quickly noted the camera's position and reacted appropriately. To anyone watching the feed, it would look as though she stood as she did to hit the button to Ozpin's office. Her body blocked the camera from seeing her plant the decoder device on the keypad.

The elevator _ding_ -ed at the top and the doors slid open.

"Ah, yes, Ms. Rose. You wanted to see me?" He asked her.

"I was wondering if my scroll came in yet. I had an… issue yesterday, and my team mates had to stay awake to let me into the dorm." Reaper told him, slightly nervous. The most dangerous person to the whole plan was Ozpin, who always seemed to know more than he let on.

"Cardin is recovering well, by the way. I do believe I sent it out with an aid a moment ago… you must have just missed each other in the halls. I'll have him deliver it to your first class."

"Thank you, sir." Reaper nodded and turned to leave.

"Ruby, are you feeling alright?" Ozpin asked the girl before she could leave. "You seem tense."

"I'm fine, sir." The girl replied quickly, hoping to hurry out of here. Ozpin nodded. If he didn't accept the answer, he at least accepted Ruby wouldn't talk about it just yet. Reaper stepped into the elevator to head to class.

 _Just another day or two of this and it's done. I can make it that long. I hope…_


	13. Act 2: Ch 6

Three years in, and Professor Port's 'lectures' haven't gotten any better. As he droned on he eventually distracted himself with stories of his youth, going completely off topic from the actual lesson he was supposed to give. They only ever really learned what they were supposed to by doing the book studies. _And I'm not even going to be here long enough for that to matter… perhaps I can catch up on some sleep…_

"Don't zone out!" Weiss berated from beside Reaper.

"But this class is sooo boring…" Reaper whispered back.

 _ **Amen…**_

"You missed _months_ of schooling, I'm surprised you're not officially held back for missing exams!" Weiss criticized. "You've got make up work, extra credit, you need to catch up!"

 _ **Is she always like this?**_

"You know that already…" Reaper responded to The Voice.

"Of course _I_ know it already, but do you? Get to work!" Weiss told her.

 _ **Oops…**_

Reaper almost told The Voice to shut up, but stopped herself as she realized she almost spoke out loud again. _There would be hell to pay if I accidently told Weiss to shut up…_ Reaper decided it would be best to work at least a little, for her cover's sake. After just a few minutes it turned into her doing her best to _look_ like she was working, as Port's voice killed all her drive.

 _ **So, seeing as we are not actually working, maybe now is a good time to talk?**_

Reaper tried to ignore The Voice once again, though in the back of her mind she already knew it was a futile goal.

 _ **Come on, I'm bored… you're bored… we're bored! If his form is his own idea of 'handsome', he's delusional on top of everything else.**_

The scythe master dropped her head onto the desk. If this kept up, The Voice would end up giving her a migraine…

 _ **Because banging your head on a desk totally isn't headache inducing itself…**_

But wouldn't a migraine hurt it too? _The Voice only exists in my mind…_

 _ **There has to be something you're willing to talk about! What about Velvet? I don't mind if you gush to me, I really am that bored!**_

Reaper held the sides of her head and began to repeatedly knock her forehead against the desk in some vain hope she was hitting The Voice.

 _Shut._ Knock. _Up_. Knock. _Shut_. Knock. _Up_. Knock. _Shut._ Knock. _Up_. Knock.

"R-Ruby…? What are you doing… is something the matter?" Weiss's voice filled with concern.

 _ **Just talk to me!**_

Reaper stood suddenly, looking straight ahead at Professor Port. "May I please be excused to go to the bathroom?" She managed calmly. He raised an eyebrow for just a second and nodded, resuming his lecture as Reaper vanished in a cloud of rose petals. Reaper rushed into the thankfully unoccupied bathroom and headed straight for one of the mirrors. She could see the red barely tinging her eyes, turning silver into pink.

 _Great, now I can piss myself off without even having to interact with anyone! This is just perfect! Damn it all! Fuck!_

 _ **Hey, sorry, believe it or not I find those 'Red Hazes' just as exhausting as you do! You should have just talked to me.**_

"SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY!" Reaper screamed into the mirror. "Listen, we need to set a few ground rules."

 _ **Ground rules? The fuck are you talking about?**_

"You can't be blabbing like that in class. Because either we'll be talking and it will distract me, or something like what just happened will happen again, and either way people will notice, which won't be good for our cover!"

 _ **Yeah, yeah, we have a job to do, whatever…**_

Reaper sighed. "You like Neo, right? Or what she does to us or whatever? If we fuck up the job, if we get caught and arrested, it's going to be very hard to get back to her."

… _**Shit, you have a point.**_

"So however painful or boring it gets, we have to deal with it, and _you_ have to stop distracting me!"

 _ **I get it, but I want something too.**_

"Velvet is off limits."

 _ **I know, I know, that's not what I was going to ask. I want a fight.**_

"A fight? Like Goodwitch's class? There's a reason we're barred from sparring."

 _ **I can help keep you from killing someone, I'm sure. Come on, there has to be a way, even if it's not in class.**_

Reaper considered her options. If it was going to help The Voice deal with staying quiet, she really didn't have much choice. She had to keep her cover a little while longer. The alternative was dealing with an even more vindictively annoying Voice that was pissed she didn't accept. "Fine, I'll try. But I can't guarantee anyone will let us." Reaper returned to class and looked around for who she should ask.

 _Definitely gotta stay far away from Jaune. Nora's just crazy enough to accept, but how well will she hold up? I should probably stick with my own team mates. Or Ren maybe? Wait… perfect._ Reaper smiled and waited in blissful silence until class was over. As soon as the bell rang, she made her way straight to Pyrrha.

"Hey there!" she greeted the golden fighter.

"Hello! Oh my! You're eyes are… pink?" She responded, caught off guard by the unusual hue.

"Yeah, 'just a little peeved' is pretty accurate to explain that…" Reaper told her.

"Peeved? What is the matter?" Pyrrha turned her full attention to her friend.

"It's just that… it's been so long since I've been in a proper battle… I miss sparring… I was hoping, maybe you and me talk to Goodwitch in class later, see about doing a one-time bending of my suspension…" Reaper asked cautiously. Pyrrha seemed a little uneased by the concept. But to help a friend? _It_ has _been a long time since Ruby fought anything other than Grimm…_

"We'll talk to Goodwitch in class later," Pyrrha answered, "it's up to her in the end, so don't hold your breath."

"Thank you so much!" Reaper put on a 'Ruby smile' to seal the deal

* * *

"Ms. Nikos, I strongly advice against this." Goodwitch's stern face hid the 'however' coming. "However, if you understand the risks and truly wish to continue, then I suppose we can make this singular exception. Don't expect this often in the future, Ms. Rose, especially if you fail to contain yourself. Your match will be the last this class period. Ms. Nikos, I advise you take no other challengers to preserve your strength. Now take your seats."

Pyrrha and Reaper gave their thanks and made their way to sit with their team. Reaper couldn't deny that she was excited to spar. She had chosen Pyrrha not just because her kind heart wouldn't allow her to say no, but because the strong woman may actually stand a chance at beating her. Pyrrha was also curious at how well she could stand up to Ruby. She hasn't gotten a chance to spar her after she got Yang's aura and semblance before today.

"I think this is foolish." Weiss remarked as they sat down. "Both of you are putting yourselves in unnecessary danger."

"Are you sure you want to do this, Pyrrha?" Jaune asked. The pink eyes unnerved him no less than the red ones. He was never comfortable around Ruby anymore unless she had her normal silver.

"We'll be fine. I'm sure Professor Goodwitch has some safety measures she's planning. How is Ruby ever going to get better if we don't start trusting her a little?" Pyrrha insisted.

"I guess you have a point." Weiss conceded after a moment of silence.

"Just be careful, okay?" Jaune told the golden fighter, resting has hand on top of hers.

 _ **Strongest fighter in class! Way to go, girl.**_

 _Aren't you supposed to shut up now?_

 _ **Sorry, I'm just happy. I half expected you to try and find a way out of it.**_

 _I thought we both wanted the same thing and you're just the honest half of us?_

 _ **Oh can it, you're the one betraying all your friends…**_

 _Can we please not think about it while I'm in the middle of betraying them? Oh, and be quiet before I call the fight off!_

Class progressed quickly despite the girls' anticipation for their coming battle. Soon enough, Goodwitch was announcing their fight and the special rules for it. "I will be standing by and observing _carefully,_ " She told the scythe master, "and if I think it looks like you're too far gone, I will restrain you. Also, now that we know for a fact you have double the aura you should, Ms. Nikos only has to take half to win. Do you both agree?"

 _ **I guess that's fair…**_

"That sounds fair." Reaper told her. Pyrrha nodded in agreement and the girls took their positions in the ring.

The audience watched in hushed excitement. No one knew how this would turn out. On one hand, Pyrrha was _Pyrrha_ , but on the other, they had all seen what happened when Ruby fought Jaune. The timer slowly counted down as the fighters readied themselves.

 _ **Every time she hits us, we get stronger –**_ _But it still depletes our aura and she only has to take half of it to win._ Reaper and her Voice decided to try harder _not_ to get hit than in a usual fight.

Pyrrha was working on her own strategy. _I'm already familiar with Crescent Rose, I can use my polarity against it. But she swings so hard and so fast, especially now that she has Yang's semblance, all I can do is redirect it when it's about to hit me, if I can even see it coming._

At the last second before the ringer, Reaper changed out her clip for the same air rounds she used in the train heist, planning her opening move. She pointed the barrel behind and slightly beside her just as the match began. Using her speed semblance toward Pyrrha and firing at the same time, Reaper propelled herself in a high speed spin. The golden fighter barely had time to raise Akouo as the red buzz saw came at her.

The scythe blade met the shield, and Reaper continued her spin hoping to loosen Pyrrha's grip and knock the shield away with repeated high speed strikes. Pyrrha's grip won out as the recurrent attack slowed Reaper's spin until Crescent Rose's tip locked with Akouo. Pyrrha pushed the scythe aside as brought Milo up. Reaper failed to avoid the attack, and took a decent hit to her aura.

 _But now she has that extra strength to fight with. This fight can only get more difficult as it presses on._

Reaper spun at Pyrrha again, hoping her extra strength would change things. Pyrrha brought Akouo up once more, but a second assault indeed weakened the girl's grip. Akouo was bashed away and Reaper brought the backside of her scythe across the golden fighters face, followed up with a half-spin to thrust the spear point at the bottom of Crescent Rose's handle. She was going to finish her spin by bringing Crescent Rose's blade down from above.

This last attack Pyrrha blocked with Milo. Her polarity brought her shield back to her, which she used the edge of against Ruby's midsection. It didn't do much damage, but it knocked her back. A few well-placed strikes with Milo's spear form ate away more of the scythe girl's aura. With each connect Pyrrha observed Ruby's eyes growing redder and redder.

Reaper fought hard to keep her anger from taking over, but she knew it was a pointless struggle. She could feel herself losing control.

 _ **Damn it, damn it, hit her, she's winning! –**_ _I'm trying!_

Pyrrha noticed too. The scythe master's attacks were becoming erratic, faster, and harder. But as the golden fighter dodged, blocked, and watched, she saw they were also becoming more predictable. She was losing herself to the battle and it looked like she had stopped thinking her attacks through. Pyrrha watched and realized that while a scythe has a long reach that her first reaction was to get away from, there was a long staff handle before the blade actually started. _If I can step within, past Crescent Rose's blade, it will breach the defense her wild swings create._

Pyrrha threw herself forward, thrusting Milo's sword form. At the last second, when Milo should have connected with Ruby's chest, Pyrrha found herself slicing thin air instead. She heard a gunshot, and felt Crescent Rose's blade slam into her back. Reaper followed through and launched the golden fighter across the ring. It was the first time she was hit by the actual blade this battle, and Pyrrha felt as though she was struck by a freight train. _She's turning this around. I need a new strategy. How did she have enough presence to counter like that?_

Pyrrha looked up and say the blade coming down at her. She used her semblance on her own armor to pull herself away. Pyrrha watched the tip of Crescent Rose dig into the ground where she was a moment before, and a light bulb turned in in her head. Back-springing onto her feet, she used her polarity and brought all the force she could down on Crescent Rose, jamming the scythe deep into the ground. _Ruby can probably pull it out, but not until she regains her balance._

Before Reaper could extract the blade Pyrrha charged in and ran up the back of Crescent Rose, kicking the Scythe girl in the face with enough force to separate her from her weapon. Even in a rage, Ruby was much easier without her scythe. The golden fighter closed the distance once more and began an assault with Milo. She slowly chipped the red dressed girl's aura away, coming closer to victory.

Milo swung down, and Pyrrha was surprised to find Ruby's hand around her wrist, stopping the swing at the last moment. The scythe girl tightened her grip, squeezing until the force made the golden fighter drop her blade. Reaper cocked back her other fist and sent it forward to Pyrrha's nose. Pyrrha felt the bone break, but her aura still held. She just needed to find a counter and she could still win. Ruby brought her fist forward again. _Another good punch with all her strength might finish me…_

The golden fighter dropped Akouo and used her polarity to grab Milo with her offhand. Bringing the blade up knocked the girl back, who was immediately restrained by Goodwitch's telekinesis as the buzzer sounded. It was close, but Pyrrha had won.

* * *

Later on Reaper, tired and silver eyed, knocked on the door to JNPR dorm. The girl had spent the last few hours wearing out the rest of the Red Haze in the Emerald Forest, then on a long walk. She was answered by Pyrrha with a bandage across her nose. "Oh crap, I broke it? Sorry about that." Reaper told her, stunned.

"It is fine, Ruby. It was a good fight." Pyrrha replied.

"I thought so too. Thank you for letting me do it."

"Of course. Tell me, how did you counter my attack, when I jumped in past your blade? I thought you couldn't think straight when you… went off."

"Oh, yeah. I learned that it's not quite so mindless when I lose myself." Reaper explained. "It's more like instinct. So I've been trying to, like, train my instincts more than my style. Unless one day I can actually learn to control myself, it's the best I can do for my fighting."

"I see… you learned that fighting Grimm on your own?" Pyrrha sounded impressed.

 _ **No, Neo pointed it out**_

"Just kinda clicked one day. Anyway, thank you for the fight, and I hope your nose gets better soon." Reaper bid Pyrrha farewell and stepped across the hall into her own dorm. Velvet was waiting inside, and Reaper smiled when she saw her. The pair hugged tightly.

"You stink of Grimm, love." Velvet told her.

Reaper laughed. "Yeah, I was about to hop into the shower."

"Should I wait for you? Maybe you'll take up my offer?" Velvet asked.

 _ **You really should.**_

 _You know I can't._

 _ **You think**_ **I'm** _ **the one that wants this? You know that I prefer something rougher to whatever qualifies as 'love making'. I'm trying to do you a favor.**_

 _That's not even what she's offering!_

 _ **I could help you turn it into that.**_

"Love?" Velvet brought Reaper out of her internal conversation. "That looked like a lot of thinking."

"Yeah… maybe soon, but I've only been back two days. Not tonight, sorry." Reaper replied

"It's fine, love. I'll try again tomorrow. Goodnight, I love you!"

"I love you too! Night!"

Reaper slipped into the bathroom to take her shower. Seconds after the door closed, she felt her black scroll buzz. She quickly pulled it out and read the screen.

 _ **You should have said yes. Could have drawn it out a few hours before having to sneak away.**_

 _No, it's better this way. Not just for Velvet, but for us as well. Easier to leave when no one's holding onto you._


	14. Act 2: Ch 7

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

The steady sound was accompanied by a soft light. Blue eyes opened slowly to survey their surroundings. There was a memory, falling, falling. A vanishing girl. A red tornado. And falling, fading… the red tornado… why did it scare her so much? Was she running from it? Falling from it? It always came back to falling. What was she falling from? What was she running from? She knew it was important she remember. She had to tell someone, ask someone. Her sister, what did she want to tell her sister? Something about the red tornado? And then she was falling again.

"Oh my, get the doctor, she's awake!"

Halfway across the world and deeper into the night brewed the storm promised by the calm that ever-precedes it.

* * *

Midnight. Reaper was making her way to Ozpin's office. Her black scroll buzzed earlier to tell her the override key to the elevator. Tonight she would finish her mission. Tonight, she would be gone. By morning, her friends would learn the truth. How will they react?

 _ **Weiss is definitely going to be pissed.**_

 _Blake will probably be angry too. She ran away from criminals, worked hard to redeem herself. What must she think of us?_

 _ **And Velvet…**_

…

 _ **We're gunna break her heart.**_

 _What do you care!_

 **You** _ **care. I'm just a voice, a guest in your scrambled noggin… we could stay.**_

 _Betray Neo and Torchwick?_

 _ **Not-betray your old friends.**_

 _It's too late for us. We've already lied to them, betrayed them. They'll never trust us again. Are we supposed to lie about who we are for the rest of our life? What we've done? And I thought you wanted Neo?_

 _ **Haha Yeah, that girl is a fun time. Let's go, we got a job to do.**_

Reaper opened the door to the elevator and typed the passkey quickly. She didn't want to be here a second longer than she had to. Now in full 'Reaper' mode, she felt uneasy within the bounds of Beacon. The doors slid open to an empty office. She had made it this far on luck alone, and it seemed to be holding out. She sat herself at Ozpin's desk and booted his computer. It didn't take long to use his log in to access the system she was looking for, except…

 _Are the files already gone? How? Are we too late or something?_

"Hello, Ruby." Ozpin's voice sounded from the corner of the office. "Or do you prefer Reaper?"

Reaper jumped up from the chair, looking for options. There was no way she could beat Ozpin in a fight, not even with the Red Haze. She needed to escape. But the files…

"Looking for this?" Ozpin stepped forward and held up a memory data drive. "Incriminating files on one Don Palette?"

"How long have you known?" Reaper asked him.

"Not long. You're very good, and I was trusting. Someone alerted me that I may have a spy. It didn't take me long to investigate your new name." Ozpin explained. "I didn't know for sure until just now that you were after _these_ files."

 _ **That's a hell of a guess.**_

"That's a hell of a guess." Reaper told Ozpin.

"Ruby, why are you doing this?" He asked.

"That's not my name."

"Why are you doing this?" He repeated.

 _ **We all have to do something.**_

"We all have to do something. It's too late for me to be a hero. Heroes only exist in fairy tales." Reaper answered.

"It's never too late to change. You've proved that once already. You can again."

 _ **You know our name. Not what we've done to earn it.**_

"You know my name. You don't know what I've done to earn it." Reaper told Ozpin.

"You mean Mercury, Emerald? Winter?"

 _ **Don't forget the Fang bastards.**_

"Others too. I couldn't control myself…"

"I believe that you couldn't. I also believe in second chances." Ozpin held out the data drive. "The way _I_ see it, you have a choice. Take your second chance. Tell the truth to your friends. You may find them more forgiving than you believe possible."

 _ **It's a trick.**_

"Why would you offer me this?" Reaper asked seriously.

"I told you. I believe in second chances. I want to help you redeem yourself, reclaim yourself." Ozpin explained.

 _He's serious…_

 _ **He can't be.**_

 _But he is… we could return to Beacon… maybe someday we can reclaim our friends trust…_

 _ **At least be honest with yourself. There's only one reason you're fighting your survival instincts and even**_ **considering** _ **this.**_

 _Velvet…_

Ozpin watched as Ruby, or rather Reaper as she called herself now, thought things over. The longer she took the more hopeful he became. Perhaps she would really change her mind…

Reaper felt her black scroll go off in her pocket. Keeping one eye on Ozpin, she slowly pulled it out to check.

'The sister is awake. You're compromised. Get the hell out of there.'

 _ **Winter!**_

 _Crap…_

 _ **It really is too late now… maybe if we told Weiss first… she is not going to be happy.**_

 _You're right._

"What's my other option?" Reaper asked Ozpin.

Ozpin's disappointment shone in his eyes, though it was quickly replaced by determination. "I'll give you the drive and let you go."

Reaper was astounded. "Just like that? You'll give it to me?"

"In return for a favor." Ozpin clarified.

"What kind of favor?"

"I don't know yet."

 _ **That's a dangerous kind of favor.**_

"That's a dangerous thing to accept." Reaper resisted.

"Do you really have a choice?" Ozpin asked.

Reaper mulled things over for barely a second before holding her hand out. Ozpin tossed the drive. As if her fist closing around the device was its cue, thunder clapped outside, followed by a heavy rain hammering the windows. Ozpin found the change in weather almost humorous, like in a movie, using a thunderstorm to show the downturn in the story. He may have chuckled if he wasn't watching Ruby suffer that downturn.

Rather than risk the elevator, Reaper stepped backward, opened the window, and let herself fall backward through it. She unfolded Crescent Rose on the way down and buried it into the side of the building to slow her descent. Landing safely, she raised her hood and walked away, her back to Beacon, to her past. Her mission was over. Ahead she saw Neo shimmer into existence. Halfway to the multi-colored girl, shouting behind her made her stop.

"Ruby Rose!"

Reaper turned to see Weiss and Velvet running toward her. The heiress held her scroll in one hand and her weapon in the other. Even through the rain, the sniper's eyes could see Winter's contact on an active call. Velvet simply looked frightened.

"That's not my name." Reaper told her.

"Then what do I call you? Ally? Partner? Friend!?" Weiss continued shouting.

"It's clear to me you already have an answer." Reaper responded.

Weiss raised Myrtenaster, pointing the tip at her old friend.

"I don't want to fight you, Weiss."

"Just tell me it's not true… tell me _you_ didn't hurt Winter…" Weiss's tears were lost among the raindrops.

Reaper's eyes fell. "I regret it, just so you know. Yang's semblance, the Red Haze… it took over. I was glad when I heard I didn't kill her."

Velvet's eyes widened. "Ruby…"

"What about Mercury? Emerald?" Weiss interjected. "They were slaughtered. They weren't given a chance!"

 _ **They got what they deserved.**_

Reaper's fists tensed. "They got what they deserved." Weiss's grip on Myrtenaster tightened in response. "I don't want to fight you Weiss…" Reaper continued, unfolding Crescent Rose, "but I will."

Weiss charged, accelerating herself with her glyphs. The tip of her rapier stuck Reaper, only for the image to shatter, Neo smirking behind it. The real Reaper struck Weiss from the side, launching her across the courtyard. Reaper didn't want to do this, but she couldn't let Weiss follow her. Crescent Rose dragged on the ground behind her as she walked to her old partner. Weiss got back to her feet and readied herself.

Reaper fired her weapon, using the air Dust rounds to add momentum and send her weapon's back spear towards Weiss as a sort of javelin throw. The heiress easily blocked it with a shielding glyph, only for Reaper to flash in front of her and snatch the scythe out of the air, bringing the curved blade down on her head. Weiss barely blocked the follow up attack with Myrtenaster. Her old partner was unfazed, spinning and slashing with her weapon, and Weiss frantically attempted to avoid damage.

As their battle waged, Neo approached Velvet, a vicious smirk adorning her face. _This bunny has the audacity to try and play with my Reaper? I'll show her where that gets her._ Velvet readied herself for a fight, summoning a copy of Coco's Gatling Gun from her weapon and opening fire. Neo artfully dodged the rounds as she closed the distance.

Across the courtyard, Weiss was fighting a losing battle. The rain and her overpowering emotions were ruining her fighting style. Reaper was able to stay calm, her sadness at fighting her friend canceling out any anger the battle caused. Weiss was launched into the air, and Reaper propelled herself after her with the air rounds. Reaching the heiress's height, one quick slash brought the white girl back to earth. A final pull of Crescent Rose's trigger sent Reaper into a buzz-saw spin, ending with the blade buried in the ground inches from the Weiss's midsection. A punch to the jaw took the last of the heiress's strength and knocked her out cold.

Velvet wasn't faring much better in her own battle. Neo danced, spun, and flipped her way around all of the rabbit girl's attacks, and she was quickly running out of saved constructs. Velvet was forced to summon her final weapon copy, an unnecessarily large sniper-scythe. Neo was momentarily surprised by its appearance, but ultimately unfazed. After watching Reaper for months, she recognized this girl copying her fighting style as well as her weapon. Once Crescent Rose failed her, Velvet knew she couldn't do much else.

Neo used the crooked handle of her umbrella to pull Velvet down into a crouching position. From there, the multi-colored girl rolled over the rabbit girl's back, catching her bicep with the umbrella handle along the way. Bringing the umbrella, and consequently Velvet's arm, down hard over her shoulder, Neo felt the girl's humerus snap as she threw the rabbit against the wall of the building. Velvet's scream brought Reaper's attention in time for the scythe master to see Neo draw her sword and aim to pierce the faunus's heart.

The multi-colored girl thrust her blade forward only to meet unexpected resistance in the form of the _real_ Creacent Rose's blade. Reaper had flashed over just in time to save Velvet's life. Reaper pushed the sword aside and stepped close to Neo, glaring at the girl with increasingly red eyes.

"Go home, Neo. I'll see you when I get back under." Neo's only response was to give the scythe girl a glare of her own and gesture madly at Velvet. "Go. Home. I'm not going to repeat myself again." Reaper injected a lot more power into her voice, frightening Vlevet. Neo turned on her heel and vanished in a flash of light.

"Ruby…" Velvet reached out with her good arm.

Reaper turned to her old girlfriend. "That's not my name. Not anymore."

"Then… what do I call you…?" the faunus asked.

"Reaper." The answer that came from the girl's mouth was the one Velvet was afraid of. Memories of a story she was told not too long ago surfaced in her mind.

"Why… why are you doing this?" She had to ask. She had to know.

"Because it's all I can do." Reaper replied as she checked Velvet's arm. "Your old girlfriend screwed up, Velv. Screwed up big time. I have to do what I have to do, to survive. Hell, I've even managed to thrive a little. Hold on, this is gunna hurt…" Reaper twisted Velvet's arm to set the bone in its proper place. "There, it should heal like it never happened."

"You can still come back, love…" Velvet pleaded.

Reaper stood and turned her back. "No I can't. Don't you get it? 'Ruby' is gone."

"I don't believe that, Ruby." The rabbit faunus grabbed the girls shoulder and turned her back around. "You're still you, somewhere in there. We can help you, save you!"

"Who's 'we'? I put Weiss's sister in a coma! I manipulated all of you! I was sent here to steal files from Ozpin's office! I have betrayed everybody! Maybe you _want_ to forgive Ruby, but I'm not Ruby! Even if I was, I doubt the others would want to do anything other than lock me up like the criminal I now am! It's too late for me… And if Ruby does still exist somewhere in here, that only makes things worse."

"Worse?"

Reaper looked up, staring straight into Velvet's eyes. "I've done things, Velv. Hell, I've killed people. And as much as I fear to admit it, I kind of enjoyed it. If I am still Ruby, then that little girl is corrupted. Defiled, even. Inside and out."

"Defiled?" Velvet was puzzled at Reaper's choice of words.

Reaper was unable to look her in the eye anymore. "That girl, Neo… a few times now. Once while I was here, in a cave in the Emerald Forest." Velvet's heart sank at the implication of Reaper's confession, and the hurt showed on her face. "It's not like she means anything to me. The sex, it calms Yang's semblance, the Red Haze. I use her. We use each other. Even though I still-" the scythe master cut off her next remark, clenching her fists. "That's the person I am now, Velv… I'm sorry."

"Even though you still what?" Velvet asked, her heart rising into her throat.

 _ **If you answer that question, it will only make it harder for her to move on.**_

"Nothing, Velvet. Don't worry about it." Reaper replied.

"No, _Reaper_ , you owe me this. I have to know." Velvet forced the words through her tightening throat and watering eyes.

 _ **Don't do it.**_

"You don't want to know." The scythe master insisted.

"I think I do!"

 _ **Don't!**_

"Even though I still love you!" Reaper shouted, her own eyes coming to tears.

 _ **God damn it, girl. That's the last time I try to help you.**_

"That's the fucked-up person I am now!" Reaper continued. "I still love you! I think about you every day! And I give myself willingly to this _… psychopath_! To calm the Red Haze, and yes, to have a little fun, because I can never be with you again! I can't touch you like that, with a killer's hands… There's no saving me, Velvet…"

"Ruby…" Ruby still existed, of that Velvet was sure. Trapped in a prison of her own growing madness. She had to find a way to get her girlfriend back. Reaper had other ideas. A few parting gifts for her last conversation with the love of her life. She unclipped her red cloak and tossed it at Velvet. For a brief second, all the rabbit girl could see was red fabric. Suddenly, she was on the ground with a new, stinging pain above her eye.

Reaper had struck Velvet with the backside of Crescent Rose, dropping the weapon in the process. Before losing consciousness, Velvet heard Reaper's parting words. "I'm sorry Velvet. I can't risk you following me. I'll miss you… I love you… goodnight, and goodbye."

A few blocks from Beacon, The Voice spoke up.

 _ **You seem like you could use a pick-me-up.**_

"Don't beat around the bush with me, I know you mean Neo."

 _ **It's almost like you know me!**_

Once Reaper got back underground, Neo was awaiting her. It seemed Neo was about to do something, either texting or charades or one of her other voice substitutes. Before she had a chance, Reaper was already dragging the multi-colored to her master bedroom.


	15. Act 2: Ch 8

Reaper crawled out of her bed nearly an hour later and found her black 'Reaper' clothes to redress into. Neo was still trying to catch her breath. She wasn't prepared for this this time, and didn't even realize what was happening until Reaper _literally_ picked her up and threw her onto the bed. Even then, Neo was surprised it was happening in the first place. Reaper seemed pissed at Neo for almost killing her old girlfriend, going so far as to _order_ Neo to leave, an order Neo strangely felt compelled to follow. _Maybe because Reaper gave it?_

Neo looked over the scythe bearer with this question in mind. In the past, she had attached herself to Torchwick (professionally, of course), going so far as to jailbreak him months after the plan that brought them together failed. But if it came down to a choice between Roman and Reaper, who would she choose? Roman would probably last longer, although Reaper was learning very quickly. And then there were other obvious advantages to staying with Reaper…

This still didn't explain why Neo had already followed Reaper's command. Neo found the answer in the very act she was ordered off of. She wasn't an idiot; she knew her assaults against the secretary and the rabbit girl were ones of jealousy, the other girls having caught Reaper's attention. But was Neo worried about them stealing Reaper's attention or stealing Reaper herself? _It's true that Reaper doesn't quote unquote 'belong' to me, but she's still mine. I helped make her, I did a lot to bring 'Reaper' out of 'Ruby'. And if the day comes and she were to ask me, I would gladly 'belong' to her._

As Neo examined the girl in front of her she realized she really wouldn't mind becoming a bit more exclusive. Sure Reaper was insane, but Neo was fully aware she was ten different kinds of nuts herself, and wasn't romance just looking for someone whose crazy matches yours? Deciding it might be best to talk to Reaper about this revelation, Neo sent a message to her black scroll.

Reaper felt her scroll buzz, checked it to see who it came from, and promptly deleted the message without reading it. _Guess she doesn't want to talk…_ Neo frowned, knowing the other girl didn't think highly of their… whatever they really were. With Reaper's back turned to her, the only other way for her to get the scythe master's attention without a voice was to physically interact with her, which the multi-colored girl would gladly do if she could move her legs. However, they couldn't follow any command other than 'shake uncontrollably' at the moment.

Reaper grabbed the drive on her way out. She knew she was leaving Neo behind in her own house, but the strange girl treated this place like a second home anyway. She had to deliver the package for Don Palette to Torchwick. Then she was going to have to figure out where Neo got a second key to her front door.

 _ **You realize the girl is becoming obsessed with us, right?**_

 _If you realized it, then why wouldn't I?_

… _ **This self-aware insanity makes for some really boring conversation.**_

 _Okay, fine, I'll play your game._ Reaper spoke aloud and with extreme dry sarcasm. "Oh my, what ever do you mean? What makes you think she's obsessed?"

… _ **Of all the heads to be stuck in, why did it have to be yours?**_

 _Well, are you going to answer me, oh wise one?_

 _ **Oh can it, killjoy…**_

 _Why are you bothered by it anyway? Aren't you the half of me that actually likes her?_

 _ **I'm the half that admits we like what she can do to us.**_

 _Now who's in denial?_

 _ **Whatever…**_

 _Ha._

Reaper came to the desk of Roman's office and saw his new secretary, a vibrant blonde with a leather jacket. She easily reminded the scythe master of Yang.

 _I knew a blonde would be worse than the not-Velvet girl._

 _ **At least this one won't risk getting fucked up by Ice Scream.**_

 _Ugh, if we're going to give her a pet name, can it at least be something not so blatant?_

 _ **Have you met the girl? Does anything other than blatant fit her?**_

 _Yeah, good point._

"I need to see Torchwick." Reaper told the blonde.

"And you are?" the girl responded with an air of superiority.

"Reaper." The scythe master replied evenly.

The blonde did a supersonic double take. "Ms. Reaper! I'm so sorry! He's waiting for you, go right in!"

 _ **Ditsy blonde? Really Roman?**_

Reaper stepped inside the office, where Torchwick was waiting along with Don Palette. "I see you made it out alive." Roman noted.

"Better than that." Reaper held out the memory drive. "I got the files. I double checked on the way over here, these are the ones you're looking for, and they've been deleted from the mainframe." She told Don Palette.

"When I heard you were compromised, I never imagined… thank you so much." Don Palette took the drive and turned to Torchwick. "You've proved yourself reliable. You have my support."

"Thank you. I think we'll need it." Roman replied, shaking his hand.

"What does that mean?" Reaper asked. "Something happen while I was gone?"

Roman looked over to the black clad girl with unease. "Remember the debacle with Junior's Brochure? Well, you were spot on the money. Someone is after us, the storefront wasn't supposed to explode."

"I was curious about that... Now that I'm back, I can begin investigating." Reaper offered.

"I was hoping you would say that."

Reaper nodded and headed to the door, turning her head back just before she reached it. "Oh, and Roman. Ditsy blonde secretary? Really?"

* * *

The sun broke the horizon, filling Ozpin's office with a golden glow. The headmaster sat at his desk, looking out the windows. He heard the elevator doors open behind him. The only person it could be was the only man he was expecting. "Ironwood."

"Hello, Ozpin. I assume everything went to plan?" The general asked.

"One could say so." Ozpin replied.

Ironwood nodded and drew a device from his pocket. Once Winter awoke with her report, they set into motion a sting operation of sorts. Catch the girl and give her a fake drive they could track back to Torchwick. Once they knew where he was hiding, the entire Atlas military force could be brought onto his head. Ironwood turned the tracking device on and saw it lead to… nowhere.

"That's strange. My monitor says the drive is still in this office." Ironwood's eyes passed over the desk on their way to Ozpin, to be stopped by the sight of a data drive. _But it couldn't be…_ "You did give Ruby the bugged drive, correct?"

"No, James. I did not." Ozpin answered as he turned to face the general.

"What!? What were you thinking?"

"I invited her into this school two years early for her exceptional skill. Because if there is something this world never has enough of, it's exceptionally skilled hunters and huntresses. When I took her in here, I made a promise to her family that I would look after her. She may have been a good fighter, but she was still a fifteen year old little girl." Ozpin told him.

"Ms. Rose is no longer that little girl. She's a criminal now, and a dangerous one at that. She's a killer, Ozpin. Her new name tells us as much!" Ironwood shouted.

"Ms. Rose," Ozpin raised his voice in return, "is a troubled and quite possibly mentally unstable teenaged girl. She doesn't need prison, James. She needs help."

"There's no helping people like her, Ozpin. Trust me, you made a mistake."

"Trust you, James?" The headmaster spoke in the voice that only teachers perfect, the kind that stays quiet but no student would dare speak over. "I asked you to trust me once. You responded by bringing an invasion sized army into Vale, into my school."

"Need I remind you that my 'invasion sized army' helped save Vale _and_ Beacon!" Ironwood pointed out.

"Need _I_ remind _you_ that your invasion sized army came _this_ close to being taken over and used against us?" Ozpin rebutted. "If two of my students, Ms. Rose among them, hadn't of stumbled across Torchwick's ally, completely by chance, that day would have ended much differently! Facts that I noticed didn't make it into your report to the council!"

Ironwood was at a loss for words. "It's one thing to say you have trust," the headmaster continued in a calmer voice, "it's another thing entirely to show it. The difference between us is I'm not going to lie to myself about being able to show it when I clearly can't."

"And what happens if you're wrong, and Ruby cannot be helped?" Ironwood asked when he found his voice.

"Then I'm sure you would be happy to have another reason to remove me from my school." Ozpin replied, sitting back down and turning back to the window.

"Ozpin…"

"I believe our business is done, James."

Ironwood searched for something else to say. Failing that, he turned to leave the office he was obviously no longer welcome in.

* * *

Velvet awoke to the soft lights of the infirmary. She was conscious when she was admitted, but it still disturbed her to wake up in here. She had hoped last night was a terrible nightmare… but the sling on her arm and ache above her eye told her it was all too real. She grabbed a nearby hand mirror to inspect the damage on her brow. Her aura wasn't raised when she was struck, and she was unconscious soon after. The gash healed quickly enough once she woke later, but even aura could never heal away the three-inch scar that now remained angled above and beside her right eye.

The nurse came by soon after. She was discharged on the condition she keep her arm in the sling and checked back in once a day until the doctors say she could remove it. Still out of classes, she wandered the halls to pass the time. She was drawn to the sound of an argument. An older woman, definitely not a student was shouting at…

"What the hell, Ozpin!" A taller version of Weiss was shouting at the headmaster. "You just let her go!?"

"Please, keep your voice down. Students are trying to learn." Ozpin calmly replied.

"You owe me an explanation."

"I already spoke to your general about this. Shouldn't you be resting?"

"I've slept long enough!"

 _Of course,_ Velvet realized, _Winter. Weiss's sister. But who did Ozpin let go?_

"I believe Ms. Rose can be saved. But I cannot help her if she is behind bars." Ozpin's confession widened both Winter's and Velvet's eyes. "Happy now, Ms. Schnee?"

"Hardly! The girl is a murderer."

"Oh? And did you see her kill anyone?" Ozpin asked.

"Not personally, no… B-but Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai-!"

"You didn't see her kill anyone, nor did you witness Roman Torchwick's escape. You jumped out the window of an airship to save your own life before these events took place." Ozpin continued, his calm tone unbroken.

"From Ruby Rose!" Winter shouted.

"From who you claim was Ruby Rose, and who was in the presence of a known and dangerous illusionist. The truth is, the only account that really says Ruby killed anyone is from Ruby herself, to which I remind you I have already proven the high possibility of mental instability via a failed use of Aura-Link. For all we know these people are taking advantage of a damaged little girl."

Winter searched for a rebuttal and found she had none. Ozpin had all the angles covered and was dedicated to this path. All Winter could do was stomp off in a huff. Ozpin heaved a heavy sigh as he watched her go. Velvet approached from behind him..

"Do you really believe all that, Professor? That Ruby could be mistaken?" she asked him.

Ozpin turned and the faunus could see sadness in his eye. "Unfortunately, I do not. I fully believe Ruby is guilty of the things she says. While it is possible other forces are manipulating her damaged mind, it is far more likely that Ruby recognizes the damage herself, and continues this path because she feels it's the only life she deserves after things she had done when she lost control of herself."

"Oh…" Velvet felt her heart fall again. These past twelve hours had been a rollercoaster for the poor organ. "Do you… still believe she can be saved?"

"Do you?" Ozpin asked in return.

After only a moment's thought Velvet nodded. "Ruby is still in there, somewhere. I could feel it. I could feel her…" _When she told me she loved me. That's when I felt her. That's when I knew for sure._

Ozpin let out another sigh, this one filled with relief, and smiled. "Thank you. I needed to hear that, more than I knew. I'll see you around, Ms. Scarlatina."

Later, sitting at a desk in CFVY dorm, Velvet mulled over her thoughts. "Not too long ago, looking out this window, I made a promise." Velvet spoke out loud to Ruby, wherever she was. "I promised I would find you. I would bring you home. I promised I wouldn't give up this time. I intend to keep that promise, love."

"What the hell, Velv." Coco spoke from the door. "Why are you doing this to yourself?"

Velvet turned her seat to face her friend. "You didn't talk to her like I did. You didn't feel what I felt. I think there's a still a chance."

Coco shook her head. "God damn it, girl. I don't get you sometimes…"

"The Ruby I love is still in there, buried within this 'Reaper' character." The faunus explained. "I have to help her if I can. I _have_ to."

Coco let her head drop. She still didn't think this was a good idea, but she also knew she couldn't dissuade Velvet, especially when Ruby is involved. "I'm not going to help you destroy yourself this time."

"I wouldn't ask you too." Velvet appreciated Coco's honesty, even if it was rather abrasive.

"How's the arm?" the team leader asked to change the conversation.

"Should be like new in a few days." Velvet smiled. "The doctors said if it wasn't set so soon after the fracture, it may never have healed properly."

"Well, at least that girl did something right." Coco left it there and stepped out of the dorm again.

Velvet's next team mate to check on her between classes a few hours later was Yatsuhashi. The large boy stepped close to the faunus and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Hey Yatsu."

"Velvet." He bowed his head. "Coco wasn't sure if we should give this to you, but she also isn't always the best when it comes to sympathy. I figured it's only fair you get these… she left them for you after all, whether as a gift or as a goodbye… I guess that's up for debate." After his speech, Yatsuhashi held out an object wrapped in a bright red fabric. Velvet's recognized Ruby's cloak, and could guess by the shape that it was wrapped around the folded state of Crescent Rose.

"Thank you, Yatsu." She took the items. She tried to put on the cloak with one shaky hand, but in the end Yatsuhashi helped her. She thanked him again and he left for the final classes.

* * *

At the dinner table later, there was an unsettling silence. Weiss, Blake, Team JNPR, and team CFVY minus Velvet (who had yet to arrive) were unsure how to break the deafening quiet.

"What do we do now?" Jaune finally spoke up. "How to we move past this?"

"We don't, not immediately." Blake answered. "We need closure."

"I looked into Orange Clockwork some more today." Weiss began to explain. "It's an investment company. They own so much stock, they practically own half of downtown Vale. I checked that store where we found Ruby supposedly stopping a robbery; Orange Clockwork owns it too."

"It looks like a front company," Blake clarified, "to run legitimate business, scams, and money laundering operations."

"Junior told us it's connected to Torchwick." Weiss picked back up. "We investigate O.C. and it can lead us to him. And we can assume _she_ will be close by."

The others took this information in and considered whether they should let this go, or join in the hunt for Torchwick and Ruby. Everyone was soon distracted, however, when Velvet finally arrived, a bright red cloak around her shoulders. She sat down amid the stares she had fully anticipated.

"You really feel… comfortable wearing that?" Weiss asked her.

"Why wouldn't I? Besides, someone needs to take care of it, so she can have it back someday." Velvet responded.

"You say that like she's coming back." Weiss said.

"Look, I don't care what any of you think. I don't care if you think I'm crazy. I believe Ruby still exists somewhere in that girl, and as long as she does, I'm going to try and get her back." Velvet told them all, tired of explaining herself.

Just a few days ago, everyone supported her in her endeavor. Now, she could tell she was in a minority. _It seems Ruby was right… she broke their trust, and now I'm the only one here willing to keep trying to help her. But I can't let it discourage me._ _I love you, Ruby Rose, and I will find you._

* * *

 **A/N: I worked hard to get this done as soon as possible. I hoped you guys enjoyed it! make sure to follow if you want to see Act 3: Huntress and Hunted. (Act 3's name is not final, but will likely either be this or something along the lines of 'A Game of Cat and Mouse')  
**


	16. Act 3: Ch 1

**A/N** **As usual, I encourage feedback, but please wait until you've finished all 8 chapters.  
**

* * *

Act 3  
Huntress and Hunted

Reaper awoke with a strange sensation across her middle. She looked over and saw Neo slumbering behind her with her arm tossed over the scythe master. The past few days since she had been back, it had been nearly impossible to kick the multi-colored girl out of Reaper's room. And quite honestly, Reaper had been too tired to even try. At least this time they both stayed fully clothed.

 _ **Again?**_ The Voice remarked Neo's presence and position. _ **If we didn't know any better, I'd say she wants more than a… what's the kind phrase for it? Friends with benefits?**_

 _The kind phrases never do Neo justice. You just_ need _that oomph only 'fuck buddy' can provide. And maybe we don't know better._

 _ **This girl is crazier than we are…**_

 _And highly unpredictable._

Reaper stood and abandoned the room, letting Neo continue sleeping. She wandered the halls of her home and, not for the first time, wondered if her house was a little too big. She took up a glass of milk as she passed through the kitchen and headed for her Ruby Vault. The first thing she noticed when she stepped inside was the freshly empty cases.

She had taken her old scroll, her red cloak, and Crescent Rose to Beacon for her cover. Her old scroll was turned in for a new one, which she had left on its charger back in RWBY dorm. She had left her old cloak and her old weapon with her old girlfriend. As she looked at the empty glass, the girl could feel that strange sensation again. The feeling of 'Ruby' slipping further away so 'Reaper' could take her place.

With another pass at the room, the scythe girl came to another startling realization. She could tie her mounting insanity to the development of 'Reaper'. Clearly 'Reaper' was still growing, would her madness continue to grow as well? If she was already hearing uncontrollable imaginary voices, what could possibly be next? The thought greatly unnerved the fallen huntress. Suddenly feeling uncomfortable in the room, she set herself to leave. In the doorway, she spared the vault one last look.

 _What am I doing with this stuff? What good does it do me? I can't go back…_ Reaper closed the door and did something she had never done before… she locked it behind her. She wasn't 'Ruby' anymore. Now that Beacon knew it was time she stopped pretending. In fact, Reaper dropped her milk off and considered finding something else to drink, something more 'Reaper'. _Might as well go all out, right?_

She rummaged through a long-forgotten liquor cabinet Torchwick had stocked when the house was built. "Let's see… what would 'Reaper' drink…?"

 _ **None of these are popping out at me either.**_

Reaper sighed and pulled the first bottle her fingers wrapped around. She poured a reasonably small 'test' amount into a clean glass and tried it. The strong alcohol burned on the way down, making the girl cough. It wasn't exactly pleasing going down, but it wasn't _too_ bad once it had settled in her stomach. She took another trial drink that felt the same as the first, and set the bottle back in the cabinet.

 _ **Yeah, this seems like a stupid idea.**_

 _Oh, can it._

The black scroll buzzed in her pocket. She turned to see Neo standing in the kitchen. The multi-colored girl poked her scroll, urging Reaper to check her own. 'You want a big girl drink?' the message read out.

"I was just trying something… somehow, when I think of 'Reaper' I don't see her drinking milk." Reaper confessed.

Neo typed out another message. 'You may be a new you, but taste buds are harder to change. Sit down.' Reaper raised an eyebrow, but having nothing else to do at this moment elected to sit down and see what Ice Scream had in store. Neo began to dance around the kitchen and grabbed various bottles and items. A minute or so later and Reaper was presented with a strange white concoction.

An experimental taste later and Reaper was pleasantly surprised by how sweet it was. She could still taste the alcohol, but the burn was mellowed by the heavy milk cream it was made with. The glass was quickly emptied. Neo winked and messaged the scythe girl the recipe. It took a few tries to get it just right, but Reaper soon had it perfected, and she and Neo shared a few rounds. Their third drink was interrupted by Torchwick's blonde. This girl had stuck around longer than the last few, long enough to earn a nickname from those thinking she may actually be here to stay.

"Hey, Ditz." Reaper greeted.

"God, I hate that name…" she responded. "Torchwick wants to know when you're starting your investigation."

"Didn't I tell you yesterday to tell him I was starting this afternoon?" Reaper pointed out.

Ditz gave a few empty blinks. "You did…? You did…"

Reaper sighed heavily while Neo face-palmed.

 _ **And she wonders why people call her Ditz?**_

"And you wonder why we call you Ditz…?" Reaper echoed. The blonde left quickly to update her boss before she forgot again. "Of all of Roman's girls, why is she the one that's here to stay?"

'Roman finds her funny.' Neo typed out.

"He's got a weird sense of humor." Reaper responded, eliciting a supportive nod from the multi-colored girl.

 _ **Coming from us? That's saying something…**_

"Coming from us? That's saying something." Reaper echoed once more. Neo nodded again.

* * *

Reaper and Neo stood outside Junior's club. The scythe girl hadn't bothered asking Neo why she tagged along. At this point, she kind of knew already before they even left. The shocking part was she found herself caring less and less. Neo's constant presence was almost becoming… nice.

 _ **You've got to be fucking kidding me.**_

 _Let's not jump to conclusions, okay?_

 _ **What's Stockholm Syndrome for stalkers?**_

 _What did I just tell you?_

 _ **Fine. Maybe you're right, denial will make it go away.**_

"Just be quiet…" Reaper told The Voice. Neo nudged her to let her know she spoke out loud to it again. Ignoring whatever comment The Voice had next, the pair entered the club. Reaper could feel the baseline of the music bounce around the alcohol in her stomach. Her mind had a strange fuzz that almost made her want to dance. _Is this what it's like to be drunk? Or am I just 'buzzed'?_

Neo noticed this little internal struggle and smiled to herself. 'Next time don't drink before work. At least not until you gain some tolerance.' She messaged the black clad girl.

"If you knew this could happen, why did you let me?" Reaper asked her.

'I didn't know you had work to do today.' Neo responded.

 _ **It's a good point. We never told her our plans.**_

"Good point…"

They made their way to Junior and the three went into his back office. "I sent the brochure with someone I know and trust this time, so this is something else." Junior correctly assumed.

"We want anything you can tell us about the courier who stole it before." Reaper told him.

"I haven't seen him since, and after what happened I highly doubt the information I have on him is accurate."

"So you can give us nothing?"

Junior sighed and printed something from his computer. "This is what I have, but as I said, I can't promise it's accurate. It does have his face, though." He handed Reaper the paper. The picture showed a young-ish man with hair so dark it almost seemed a shade of blue. "His tail was the same color as his hair."

"Tail? A faunus?" The scythe girl asked.

"Monkey tail." Junior answered.

 _ **That will certainly make things easier.**_

 _Think we should ask around 'Poor Town'?_

 _ **Tons of faunus there, especially criminal ones.**_

There was a knock at the door. "Sounds like I have customers. Ladies, good day." He moved to the door, but was stopped by Reaper. She stepped through the door and carefully peeked around the corner.

 _ **Come on, what are the chances that will really happen twiiieee, fuck.**_

Standing at the counter was Weiss, Blake, and Velvet. The rabbit faunus was wearing Ruby's cloak. Reaper and The Voice simultaneously cursed quietly.

"Velvet," Weiss was talking to the girl, "I understand that you think you can bring Ruby back. But even if you can, right now she is still a criminal. If we find her, we _are_ bringing her in. Okay?"

"But-" Velvet began but was quickly cut off.

"No buts. We are still huntresses first, and Ruby, or Reaper or whatever, is still a criminal. We can worry about the other stuff later, but we need to bring her in first."

The rabbit girl hung her head low. She knew Weiss was right. She just wanted her girlfriend back so badly… "Okay…" She accepted. Weiss let out a sigh of relief.

Reaper made her way back to Junior. "I really hate that you're neutral." She told him, shoving Lien cards into his hand. "If those three ask after me, you don't know anything."

"Unless they offer more." Junior told her. He counted out the money Reaper gave him. "Somehow…" he added, his eyes wide.

"I'll be watching." Reaper warned him. She looked to Neo and the multi-colored girl nodded. Illusioned from sight, the pair took to eavesdropping on the impending conversation.

"You three? I won't be telling you anything else on Torchwick that won't cost more." He warned them.

"It's not about him." Vlevet spoke up and showed him the same picture from before. "You're sure you never heard of Ruby Rose?"

Junior's eyebrow rose. He put two-and-two together and smirked at learning Reaper's true name. "Sorry, never heard that name before today." He told them truthfully.

"What about a girl named Reaper?" Weiss asked. "Ever heard that one before?"

Junior would have been taken aback of he wasn't already expecting that question. "Maybe. Here and there."

"Well, do you know anything about her?" Weiss pressed. "You know I can pay."

Junior seriously doubted the heiress was willing to pay what it took to outbid Reaper. "Sorry, I don't know anything."

Weiss was about to say something, likely harsh and rude, when she was stopped by Blake, who pulled her slightly away. "It's no use Weiss. You can't pay the fortune you would need to without alerting your father."

"But two thousand got me Orange Clockwork!"

"It's not about what the info is worth. He's being purposefully evasive. He knows. Weiss, he's being paid _not_ to tell." Blake, the ex-criminal, could easily see the difference.

"Damn it!" Weiss cursed. "What do we do now? Just beat the streets?"

"Not yet…" Blake thought. "We hope there's something she overlooked. Velvet, didn't you hear the name of Torchwick's illusionist?"

Reaper could see the conflict pass through Velvet's eyes. She likely didn't want to think about what else she had learned as far as Reaper and Neo were concerned. "Neo." She eventually nodded. Velvet stepped back to the counter. "What might you be able to tell us about a girl named Neo? Pink and brown hair and eyes?" Reaper could feel the multi-colored girl in question glare a hole into the back of her head after the question was asked.

Junior took a moment to think things through. Neo was crazy, but even she wasn't stupid enough to attack the best info broker in Vale, especially when he was neutral. "Can you pay two again?" He asked Weiss. She quickly handed over the money. "Neo is short for Neopolitan. She's incredibly dangerous and one of two top-ranking lieutenants in Torchwick's new organization."

"Who's the other?" Blake asked.

"That's not what you paid for." He told the girls before taking his leave of them.

Weiss fumed and Velvet was disappointed they couldn't get more. Blake spoke again. "So she's friends with this Neopolitan girl, who's second in command with Torchwick next to someone else."

"Maybe Ruby?" Velvet proposed. "That could explain why they seem to be partners now."

"So all we did was confirm that if we hunt down Torchwick, we'll find her." Weiss summarized. The huntress trio nodded and left.

"Remind me next time I need to visit Junior, to do so during Beacon's classroom hours." Reaper lamented out loud as Neo dispelled her illusion. The multi-colored girl started to zero in on Junior with a fire in her eyes. "Neo, stop!" Reaper warned. The scythe girl was amazed that Neo did indeed stop, but when she turned around she didn't look happy about it. "It's not his fault. He did his job. I'm the one that didn't realize they might ask after you."

Neo knew Reaper was right, but she didn't want to be mad at the scythe girl. She settled for being mad at Junior and _not_ assaulting him for it as she typed a quick message to Reaper's scroll. 'Now is the time for a drink.' It read.

"You mean _while_ we're working?" Reaper asked.

Neo shook her head and typed. 'We shouldn't be topside while they're looking for us. We search during school hours so we won't stumble into them once again.'

 _ **That would be smart.**_

Reaper nodded. "Kinda looking forward to having more of that drink."

Neo raised an eyebrow and fired a quick response. 'If youre not careful youll get hungover'

"Gotta have my first one eventually, know what it feels like." Reaper rationalized.

Neo was about to reply but after a moments consideration she shrugged instead. There was a weird logic to Reaper's thinking. And if Neo was going to get shit-faced with her new favorite person, then all the better.

A few streets over the Beacon group wandered commercial looking for one of the buildings owned by Orange Clockwork.

"What are we going to do if we find one? They're not going to tell us anything." Velvet asked.

"I have a plan." Weiss stated as Blake shifted uncomfortably beside her. "Two of us distract the shop keeper while the experienced thief sneaks around on the lookout for anything helpful."

"You don't have to be so blunt about it." Blake told off her girlfriend.

"So, we're going to steal?" Velvet clarified.

"From thieves! And other kinds of criminals too I guess." The heiress defended. "Look, we're not exactly sanctioned for this investigation of ours. We're already bending the rules."

"So why not break them, right…" Velvet concluded with a distinct lack of amusement. "If you are going to play criminals, than as a huntress, should I bring you in?"

"Velv…" Blake looked her friend in the eye. "I admit it's not ideal, and it may sound a little hypocritical to boot. But there is a large difference between lifting Intel from criminal-owned establishments and the things Ruby has done as Reaper. This is how we find her."

"Look," Weiss interjected, "Blake doesn't like to be rude, so I'm doing it for her. Something we've both been thinking is, maybe you should go back to Beacon. We clearly have different final goals, and that conflict of interest could disrupt the search."

Velvet looked to Blake to see the guilty confirmation in her friends face. "I already agreed to have her arrested if we find her! I can't sit back and do nothing, and there is no point in doing two separate unsanctioned investigations. I'm going with you."

Weiss sighed. "Fine. Then let's go."


	17. Act 3: Ch 2

The three huntresses-in-training finally came across a store that was owned by Orange Clockwork. They stepped inside, Weiss and Velvet going to the counter while Blake hung back in the back of the shop. "Hello! I was in the market for a very specific kind of blouse, and was wondering if you stock it?" Weiss asked the teller, barely breathing before launching into a long and convoluted explanation of what she was looking for. Velvet acted as a lookout, eyeing the clothing from the counter while really keeping an eye on Blake.

The cat faunus was already on the move. She picked her way through the locked door to the employee lounge and from there stole away to the manager's office. If there were any incriminating files, they would be back here. _I can't believe Weiss talked me into this._ The one-time criminal easily found the important books. _Here, their ledger. There are a few peculiarities here… There are large 'donations' which are then paid back to 'OCHQ' every month. Orange Clockwork Headquarters? No address in here… perhaps something else has it._

She didn't have time to tear the office apart. Weiss could only distract the shop keeper for so long. She used a nearby notepad and pen to jot down the numbers. It would be suspicious if the ledger itself went missing. The note was torn away from the pad and Blake left the office quietly. She stepped out in time to see the aggravated shop keeper telling Weiss off. Velvet noted Blake's return.

Velvet tugged on Weiss's sleeve. "Maybe it's time to go." Weiss took the cue and bid the angry man farewell. Once the trio were safely across the street the heiress turned to her girlfriend.

"So, what did our cat-burglar manage to find?" She asked with a grin.

Blake returned it with a cold glare. "Well, _Yang_ , this is a rough copy of some unusual figures in their ledger. Large anonymous donations that were then paid to Orange Clockwork."

"Good lord…" Weiss looked over the numbers. "No address for 'OCHQ'?"

"None. Maybe we'll be lucky at the next shop."

"So we have to do this again?" Velvet asked.

"As much as it takes." Weiss told her.

The rabbit faunus was obviously uncomfortable with the idea as she had been from the start. But she didn't argue with it this time. They had to do whatever it took. Despite their mixed opinions of how it should end, they still needed to get to the end. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

* * *

Reaper forgot whether it was her or Neo that turned on the music, but her body hardly cared. As an inexperienced drinker, the scythe girl was too far gone before too long. Neo had a bit more tolerance, though she was also wasted soon after. As soon as the music started, the living room looked like an excellent dance floor. Until she fell over the ottoman ten minutes later.

As she flopped onto her back, the alcohol dulled the impact. Instead of a pained breath, Reaper released a barrage of laughs. When she reopened her eyes she saw Neo convulsing on the other side of her kitchen's island.

 _ **What the hell?**_

Reaper stood in a panic and looked Neo over. The girl was shaking alright. With a giant smile on her face while holding her stomach. Reaper noticed the multi-colored girl was laughing but still wasn't making a noise.

 _ **Are you fucking kidding me!?**_

The scythe master's laughter began anew, echoed in her own head by The Voice. "Do you seriously make no noise when you laugh!?" she managed to gasp out. The situation only worsened Neo, who was now squeezing her eyes shut in silent laughter. It took nearly twenty minutes for the drunk girls to put themselves together once more.

"Okay, Ice Cream Girl, seriously. Be honest, okay? Will you be honest?" Reaper asked. Neo nodded. "Can you actually speak at all? I've never been sure, can you speak? Because _I_ know _damn well_ you can moan, but you can't laugh?" Neo shook her head. "Can't talk? Like at all?" Neo shook her head again. "And you're being honest?" The multi-colored girl nodded this time, trying not to laugh at the absurdity she found in the line of questioning.

"Then it's official!" Reaper announced loudly. She jumped to her feet and pointed at Neo. "You! Are one _crazy_ fucking mute!" The 'crazy fucking mute' may have been offended if the scythe girl wasn't completely wasted along with her. Reaper sidled around the Island toward Neo. "You… are also one _sexy_ fucking mute…" Neo's humor was interrupted by a double take. She had _not_ been prepared for that line to go that direction. She recovered quickly though, placing a seductive smile on her lips.

"I know you can make noise…" Reaper continued, the girls' lips brushing as she spoke, teasing. "Let's see if I can't make you talk… let's see if I can't make you scream my name…" She couldn't, but the two girls had fun trying.

* * *

The Beacon group tried two more Orange Clockwork stores and found everything from zilch to nada. Not that they expected to have a major breakthrough on their first day, but the more shops they crossed off, the better. In that mindset, the trio approached a third location. Once inside they settled quickly into their routine. Weiss talked up the man behind the counter as Blake slipped into the back to look for information.

Once back there, Blake ignored the books. They were thorough with them; the slip-up wouldn't be in a ledger. She focused on random sheets of paper, letters, memos and the like. She gave herself five generous minutes before she had to leave. Hopefully Weiss could hold up that long. _She made me do this, she can handle a few shop keepers._

Her fingers passed over an old memo. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized this memo was _faxed_. Looking over the sheet, she saw a return number. _Jackpot. This landline will be registered to a specific building. We're closer._ Her faunus ears picked up a commotion from the front, one unrelated to her heiress girlfriend.

"This is the place. Torchwick owns it." She overheard someone say.

"Usual deal?" Another asked. Blake pocketed the memo, peeked around the corner and saw two faunus. A dark haired monkey boy with an equally dark tail nodded to his lion friend's question. Blake saw the source of the commotion she heard in the form of the shop keeper's unconscious body. _At least, I hope he's unconscious._ Velvet and Weiss were hiding behind the shelves, trying to decide if they should stop these two or not.

Blake saw the monkey boy pull out a homemade bomb. That was all the huntress needed to know she should take these two down. Velvet and Weiss had the same idea, and the girls surrounded the faunus. Blake and Weiss had their weapons drawn. The boys weren't surprised for long. They knew others were in the store, they just didn't expect them to draw weapons on them so quickly. "You three are huntresses? No, too young. Beacon students. Trainees."

"Where did you learn to make a bomb like that?" Blake asked him.

The monkey looked between Blake and the bomb. "Cat girl. Beacon. You're her."

The cat faunus's eyes narrowed at his response. "That's impossible. He was arrested, locked deep."

"Not deep enough, I guess. God, Atlas just _loves_ hiding their screw-ups, don't they?" The monkey boy laughed. Blake lunged at him with Gambol Shroud. The attack was blocked by his own weapon, a longsword with a pistol built into the grip. His lion friend drew his claws and initiated combat with the other two girls. The lion's sheer ferocity made for a difficult battle, even for two allies fighting together.

It soon became clear the combat was at a standstill. Blake and her opponent seemed to be on equal standing skill-wise, matching each other blow-for-blow. On the other side of the store, it was entirely possible the lion may overtake the two girls in the battle. "This isn't working!" Weiss told Velvet. "I'm not familiar enough with your fighting style to coordinate attacks!"

"I may have a solution, if you can hold him for a few moments!" the rabbit girl yelled back. Weiss nodded and distracted the lion man while Velvet summoned her locker with her scroll. She did have her weapon of course, but that's not what she had in mind. As the locker landed and opened, Velvet's eyes were drawn to the red laying across the bottom. _Weiss is familiar with Ruby's fighting style. They were partners after all. And I've mastered it._

Jumping back into the fray with Crescent Rose in its full glory, Weiss and Velvet gradually gained an upper hand in their fight. Near the counter, Blake left an after-image of stone to catch the monkey boy's weapon. Of course he could pull it out easily, but it gave Blake the time to separate Gambol Shroud into its dual blades state. Her own upper hand achieved, the cat girl unleashed her full skill onto her opponent.

The two criminal faunus recognized they were both fighting losing battles. They turned to run, but not before tossing the bomb into the air. As it flew across the shop, Blake eyed the mechanism long enough to see it was active. "RUN!" She warned her allies. The trio rushed out of the shop and were out the door before the bomb went off. Their auras absorbed any physical damage from the explosion, though the shockwave still sent the girls halfway across the street.

"What the hell was that about?" Weiss asked.

"They sounded like rivals to Torchwick's operation." Velvet pointed out.

"Speaking of, did you learn anything before the shit hit the fan?" The heiress asked her girlfriend.

"Actually, I think I found a lead." Blake pulled the old memo out of her pocket.

"Well, at least this wasn't a waste." Weiss stated proudly. Her plan was working. Maybe she could do this leader thing after all…

"So what do we tell the police when they show up?" Velvet asked.

"That we were here when those guys showed up and tried to stop them." Weiss answered.

"And about Torchwick?" the rabbit girl asked.

"Even if we wanted to tell them, we have no hard evidence to back up what we know." Blake explained. Velvet grimaced, but at least she didn't have to lie to the police. Just not tell the whole truth…

* * *

A loud clanging woke Reaper and Neo up. "OW, FUCK!" Reaper and The Voice spoke simultaneously. "Ohhhh… why is it so bright…" The black clad girl brought her hands to her head. _God this is one hellacious headache…_ "What time is it…?" She asked out loud.

 _ **How the hell would I know if you don't?**_ Even as a voice in her head, Reaper didn't miss the dry sarcasm.

"I was asking Neo, idiot…"

 _ **Because that's real rewarding when your eyes are still shut. Remind me, who's the idiot?**_

"We both are, obviously!"

Roman slapped his can against the metal leg of a lamp, causing the loud clang once more. Reaper finally noticed he was there. "Who are you talking to?" he asked.

"I'm talking to… uhhh… we need to find you a name. Maybe I won't sound as crazy if I called you Josie or something, rather than 'the voice in my head'."

 _ **I am**_ **strongly** _ **opposed to 'Josie'.**_

"Eh, we'll ask Neo. She's good with that stuff."

"Ahem." Roman cleared his voice to bring the girl's attention back to him. "I see Neo has been teaching you the finer points of blackout alcoholism. Make sure her next lesson is 'moderation'. Also, voice in your head?"

"Yes, I now have a voice in my head. She says hello-"

 _ **No I didn't**_

"-She also says you willingly employed a sociopath who doesn't speak a word." Reaper continued unimpeded. "It's your own fault you surround yourself with crazy."

"I suppose you have a point there." Roman conceded. "There's been a 'disturbance' at one of our storefronts. I'll tell you more in my office, give you three time to clean up a little. And put some clothes on."

Reaper looked down and saw that, thankfully, she was only topless. Her tank top, jacket, gloves and hood were laid like a trail between the Kitchen Island and couch, where Neo currently lay rubbing her own headache. Reaper herself was on the floor for some reason. "Wait, three?" She realized. Torchwick gave her a strange look and chuckled under his breath.

 _ **Oh, ha-ha.**_

"I bet you think you're hilarious, Roman." Reaper told him dryly. He slammed the door on the way out, aggravating the girls' headaches further. "I am in too much pain to deal with that man today. Asshole." Neo gave her a thumbs up in agreement before getting up and working the coffee machine in the kitchen. Reaper tossed her tank top on but left everything else in a bundle on the Island counter for when she was more awake.

'So how is you're first hangover so far?' Neo buzzed Reaper's scroll.

"Hell." Reaper told her. "I sincerely hope this is not what a 'mild' one feels like."

'Don't worry, you did drink a lot for someone who had never touched alcohol before.' Neo assured her.

"Why did you let me do this to myself?" the scythe girl moaned, laying her torso on the counter as she sat on the stool.

'You wanted the experience.'

"Well if I tell you I want to experience what a gunshot feels like, talk me out of that one, okay?" Reaper asked. No message this time, the multi-colored girl simply nodded and pushed a hot mug of coffee towards her. Which she consumed greedily.

'We better go see what Roman wants at some point.' The black scroll buzzed.

"Yeah, but give it some time. I have a feeling migraines and Red Hazes don't mix well _at all…_ " Reaper took another deep drink from her mug and Neo made her own. "So… what do you remember from last night?"

'Everything ;)' Neo messaged with a knowing smirk.

"I remember something about… screaming and names… screaming my name…? Making yo-" the scythe girl cut herself off and started putting pieces together.

 _ **Well shit, sleeping with your stalker is not a good way to shake her off.**_

 _Shut it, you._

 _ **Next time, let's**_ **not** _ **get completely shit-faced.**_

 _Agreed._

"I guess we gotta go talk to Roman." Reaper pulled on the rest of her outfit and headed out the door. Neo smiled. She knew the scythe master still wasn't the biggest fan of their current… arrangement? Relationship? Booty call? Whatever it was now, Neo could tell she was breaking down the barriers slowly. She hasn't been kicked out of Reaper's house in two days, and drunk Reaper came on to her. At least _part_ of her liked Neo the way the multi-colored girl wanted to achieve.


	18. Act 3: Ch 3

Reaper and Neo entered the broken shop via the back door in the alley. All the police out front, as well as the three huntresses in training who had fought the attackers, put the girls on edge. Especially if Roman was right and the three huntresses were who Reaper feared they were. The shop keeper was kept safe from the blast behind the counter and met with the criminal duo.

"God, this place is a mess." Reaper noted.

 _ **Doubt there will be any evidence of our attackers left.**_

"There are other things to learn." Reaper turned to the clerk. "What exactly happened here?"

"Well, these girls entered the shop. This white bitch kept droning on and on about stupid things, I couldn't get her to go away! Then her rabbit friend dragged her behind the shelves and these two other faunus, a monkey and a lion, knocked me out! Next thing I remember is waking up to an explosion!"

'Monkey' Neo quickly messaged Reaper.

"The monkey, dark hair and dark tail?" the scythe girl relayed Neo's question.

"Yeah, actually." The clerk replied.

"And what about the third girl?"

"What third girl?"

"A human in white and a rabbit. There should have been a cat with them. Witnesses even describe three huntresses defending the store."

"I didn't see no cat girl."

Reaper swept behind the counter. The only camera still intact was the one pointed at the back office. The scythe master checked the footage anyway, and didn't like what she saw. Blake was back there for nearly three minutes searching for something. On her way back out to fight the bombers, she slipped something into her pocket.

"I swear didn't see her!" the clerk was scared he would lose his job, or worse. He had heard horror stories about the girl who dressed like death himself.

"Don't worry, I believe you. She is _very_ good at what she does. Neo, let's see if the girls are still here. Maybe we can hear their next move."

'We're supposed to be looking for the people attacking us.' Neo messaged.

"I know, but it's hard to focus ahead of us if we're constantly watching our backs. We need to figure out how to shake them." Neo grudgingly nodded. She wanted to get Roman of their backs, but again Reaper was right. _She's getting good at this_ , Neo smiled.

Illusioned from sight, they found the Beacon group close by.

"Why are we still watching?" Weiss asked.

"Because Roman might send someone to check the shop." Blake answered.

"You don't really think he would send Ruby or that Neopolitan girl for something so trivial?" the heiress continued.

"Maybe not, or maybe he needs someone he trusts if there's people after him." Blake told her.

"If Neo is here, we may not see them." Velvet pointed out. "We don't know how to find and counter her illusions. They're damn good."

"It's getting late, Blake. We need to get back to Beacon before people start questioning what we're doing out here." Weiss said. Blake sighed and conceded. The trio started walking back to the school, the invisible criminal duo tailing within hearing distance.

"So what's our next step? You said you found a lead?" Velvet asked her faunus friend.

Blake pulled the sheet of paper out of her pocket. "I found this memo. It was faxed from OCHQ."

"And it has the return number?" Weiss asked hopefully. Blake smiled and nodded.

Reaper took advantage of the way Blake held up the memo to check it through Brutal Thorn's scope. _Shit_. The 'OCHQ' wasn't anything more than a warehouse with a single office, manned by an accountant Roman payed to keep all the transactions running smoothly. Thankfully it sounded like the Beacon girls couldn't so anything more tonight.

Once there were a few blocks between them and the huntresses, Neo dispelled the illusion. "We need to move OCHQ. Make sure the warehouse is empty when the girls search it." Reaper thought out loud. Neo nodded, while working on her own plan in the back of her mind. Reaper noticed the devious smile spread on the multi-colored girls face.

 _ **I don't like that.**_

 _Me neither…_

A half an hour later Reaper was telling Ditz the message to relay to Torchwick. As she entered her home, she could tell by the unlocked door Neo was already inside. "We still haven't figured out how she got a key."

 _ **I doubt we can get it away from her.**_

"Do you even want to?" Reaper teased The Voice as she hung her hood and Brutal Thorn on their stands by the door.

 _ **Shut up about that already…**_

"Ohhh I hit a sore spot." Her scroll buzzed. From the kitchen, Neo could see and hear Reaper talking to her Voice out loud and told her so via text message. "Shit, I do that far more than I like to admit. Thanks." The scythe master turned to the multi-colored girl. "I suppose it's pointless to try and get you back to your own house that is literally right next door?"

Neo sarcastically exaggerated a thoughtful face for a few seconds before nodding. "Whatever, I'm making that drink and watching TV." Reaper grabbed the necessary bottles. "You do what you do, I guess. Me casa is su casa, since I don't really have a choice at this point." Neo wanted to join Reaper on the couch, but decided to take a look around the house first.

She passed the door to the Ruby Vault and stopped short. Her curiosity won out and she entered the room to see what it was like to sit amongst 'Ruby'. Or at least she would have, if the door wasn't locked. _Does Reaper lock this door usually? Or… is it staying locked…?_ Neo smiled and made her way back to the living room.

* * *

Two years ago the 40th biennial Vytal Festival was held in Vale, and was interrupted by the attacks of Cinder and the White Fang. The councils of the world decided to break tradition and try to replace that memory with a happier one by announcing the 41st would also be held in Vale. There were those that argued a kingdom has never hosted the Vytal Festival twice in a row, but even they eventually admitted that a Vytal Festival had never fallen in such a grand manner and they should at least have a shot to 'redeem themselves'.

And so, while Weiss, Blake and Velvet awaited the inquiry about the number from the fax they set themselves up in the courtyard to see who was going to arrive today. A few they recognized from their battles passed through, but none of team SSSN, the only outside team they would wager to call their friends. Weiss had even had a small thing for Neptune once. Anytime Blake let this bother her, Weiss only needed to remind her about Sun.

"So, have either of you told Neptune or Sun about you being together?" Velvet finally found the courage to ask.

"Somehow, I don't think Neptune will be too broken up." Weiss pointed out. "You do remember how he talked to the NDGO girls?"

"Alright, good point. But what about Sun?" Velvet continued. Blake only shifted uncomfortably in her seat. The cat girl was not looking forward to talking to him, especially if he wanted to still be together after a whole year apart.

"So, Blake, what _will_ you tell Sun?" Weiss asked her girlfriend, crossing her arms. Blake instantly recognized she was trapped and had to say something.

"I… haven't really thought about it yet… I was kind of hoping to just avoid him…" Blake admitted, knowing it didn't sound good.

"You realize he knows where we sleep?" the heiress told her. "He's climbed the tree outside our window before. If he wants to talk to you, it will be impossible to shake him off."

Blake _really_ didn't want to talk to Sun if she could avoid it. But, as always, Weiss was right. She couldn't possibly avoid him forever. Not to mention it was childish beyond belief. "I'll figure it out. And you know you don't have to worry. I love you, Weiss." Blake assured her.

Weiss's scroll went off. "Hello?" She spoke into it. "Thank you very much." She said after a few moments and hung up. "I know where 'OCHQ' is. A warehouse somewhere in the more rundown parts of Industrial."

Her faunus companions nodded and they got up to leave, ready to shift into huntress mode. When they turned, they almost ran right into two people they didn't expect to see.

"Oh, hello girls!" Scarlet greeted them, Sage towering next to the thin pirate-dressed boy.

"Sage! Scarlet!" Blake looked around them. "Umm… So if you're here, where are Sun and Neptune?"

"Neptune ran off to chase some Haven girl's skirt." Sage told them.

"I knew it." Weiss rolled her eyes.

"And Sun is actually looking for you, Blake." Scarlet finished the answer. "He's talked about you a lot in the past year, to be perfectly honest."

"Great…" Blake lamented.

"Is something wrong?" Scarlet asked.

Blake saw a way out and took it. "Listen, would you tell him- hmmp?"

Weiss had covered her girlfriends mouth and continued for her. "-tell him that Blake wants to talk to him about something, but he has to wait until she finds the words."

Scarlet looked between the two girls in confusion. "Um. Alright then. Cheers!" the pirate walked off.

Where Scarlet was oblivious, Sage was not. He looked between the pair and offered a smile. "Congratulations. And good luck with Sun. He was really hoping, so try and be easy, will you?"

"I'll try…" Blake promised.

Sage walked off after his team mate and the girls set off for Vale.

* * *

The girls stood in front of the warehouse ready for anything. The doors slid open to reveal… nothing. Not even the pair with faunus senses could pick up a living soul in the building. "Damn it, they must have cleared it out. Maybe the address is old." Weiss cursed.

"Or an invisible Neopolitan saw us with the memo and took precautions." Velvet pointed out.

"There might still be something they forgot, or someone here waiting for us to beat us down. We just have to beat them and get them to talk." Blake told them.

"It's better than nothing, which is what we're back at now." Weiss fumed. "Let's get looking." The trio searched the warehouse end to end, with no luck. They eventually decided that with no other ideas at the moment they would spread their search to other warehouses nearby, looking for literally anything that could help.

Velvet stepped into a warehouse a few spaces away. Initial looks weren't promising. It seemed just as empty as the last. There was an unusual vibe in the area, and it left an uncomfortable tension in the beck of Velvet's neck. She readied her weapon to fight at a moment's notice and stepped through the area slowly. The door behind her slammed shut and she turned to see none other than Neopolitan shimmer into view.

"You again. Come here to finish me off? I won't be taken so easily this time." Velvet shouted to the girl. She didn't need to since the acoustics in this place would have done the job. But if Weiss or Blake heard her, she would have backup. Velvet indeed knew this girl's tricks now, illusion and teleporting. But despite her tough act, she knew she wouldn't last in the long fight one-on-one. The multi-colored girl didn't respond. Velvet found herself wondering if this girl was mute or just arrogant.

Velvet soon decided she didn't care. She saw this girl as Ruby's corruptor, the devil who pulled her down that path where her madness now trapped her. She was going to take Neo down and save Ruby, this much she knew. Her resolve strengthened, Velvet jumped into an assault. She found Neopolitan and her umbrella just as hard to fight as before. This little creature had perfected dodging with acrobatic expertise. In fact, Velvet felt the sting of a few counter attacks quickly, and the multi-colored girl never once went out of her way to land a strike.

Blake and Weiss heard the commotion from outside. The sound of the conflict bounced off the warehouses well, but the cat girls faunus sense helped her find the building they were looking for. Unfortunately, the doors seemed jammed from the inside. After trying a few times, they realized nothing short of an explosion would tear the jam apart.

"We could use the roof?" Weiss suggested.

"Whoever Velvet is fighting may have rigged that too." Blake pointed out.

"Well do you see any other options!?" Weiss was getting aggravated. Velvet was fighting alone, and it didn't sound like she was winning.

Blake was about to suggest something, but Weiss never got to find out what. At that very moment, a black blur charged through the warehouse doors with such force and energy as to tear the metal into tiny pieces.

* * *

Reaper strode through the halls of her home. Lay low until they got confirmation the Beacon girls checked the warehouse. Once the huntresses were out of leads, she could finally devote time to searching for that fucking monkey. _That_ was the plan. She manipulated the bottles in the kitchen to make her new favorite drink, planning to enjoy one or two before she went to bed that night.

 _ **Something's not right.**_

 _I know… but what is it?_

 _ **It's too… peaceful.**_

 _You're right. But why does that feel like a bad thing?_

 _ **Neo. Neo isn't here. What's Neo doing that she wouldn't be stalking us for once?**_

 _I don't know… what is there for her to do? Not like she can ask questions, unless she plans to try and moan them all._

 _ **She could be just taking some time off from stalking us?**_

The last remark actually made Reaper laugh. "That girl is guano for us, if she weren't stalking us she would still be in our house."

 _ **Yeah, laugh it up smarty-pants. Okay, what operations may need her attention?**_

 _None of them. The only operation right now she might be interested in is the one in Industrial._

 _ **Oh shit…**_

Reaper and the Voice simultaneously recognized what Neo would give up a night with Reaper for. "Velvet."

Reaper's eyes instantly flashed bright red. She sped out of the house in a cloud of petals, picking up her cloak and Brutal Thorn along the way. She was little more than sentient wind as the picked up speed and flew through Vale. In mere moments, she crashed through the doors of a warehouse and picked up Neo by the throat as she flashed to the back wall, slamming the multi-colored girl against the metal and concrete hard enough to leave a crater in the wall.

Brutal Thorn unfolded behind Reaper and she posed it, ready to strike. With how red her eyes were now, Neo was surprised she wasn't already dead. The glow usually promised fun nights, but right now it terrified the illusionist to the bone.

" **Listen,** " the voice that came from the girl's throat wasn't Reaper's. It was deeper, but still feminine, and even enraged it kept hints of sultry undertones. " **We don't quite know what you want yet, but it's clear you want to stay on our good side. Let me tell you, killing Velvet will** _ **not**_ **keep you on our good side. If you want us to hate you for the rest of your life, this is the way to go. If not, I suggest you drop whatever jealous vendetta you have, because if you haven't noticed, the people we hate don't usually last long enough to get a second chance. Do. You. Understand?** "

Neo nodded. Reaper made her point clear, the rabbit was permanently off-limits. Reaper dropped her, and Neo took a moment to breath. The scythe master stumbled for a moment and fell flat on her back. Velvet ran over to check on the woman she still saw as Ruby, and Neo held back to urge to fight her off.

"Ruby, are you okay?" Velvet asked.

Silver eyes shot open and Reaper sat up, physically staring at the ground. Mentally, she was staring into herself, at the Voice. "What the hell!? You can do that!?" She screamed at it.

 _ **Ugh can you not scream, my head hurts now…**_

"It's my head too, Asshole!" Reaper continued yelling. "You gave us a migraine doing that little stunt, and I still want to know just how the hell that even happened!?"

 _ **Honestly? We got pissed, and the Red Haze kinda opened a door in here. I stepped through it and suddenly I was in control. I managed to control the Red Haze, kept us from killing Neo. And the Haze is gone now.**_

"What, you think you wore it out? Wait, you think we can use you to control the Red Haze?"

 _ **Absolutely. I don't think you would have to worry about me completely taking over forever, and I could fight for us.**_

"That's actually not a bad idea…" Reaper relented as she lay back down on her back. She quickly remembered where she was and who was in attendance. And the look on Velvet's face above told her she was speaking to The Voice out loud again. "Well, shit… guess that cat's out of the bag…"

"Ruby, who were you just talking to?" Velvet asked, her voice shaking.

"The King of Mantle, genius, who do you think? And that's not my name." Reaper replied coldly as she got to her feet. She saw Weiss and Blake making their way across the building toward her. "Great… the whole gang's in attendance."

"Ruby Rose," Weiss started.

"Again, not my name." Reaper sighed.

"-you are under arrest. Please set your weapons on the ground and come along quietly." The heiress finished unimpeded, raising Myrtenaster.

Reaper looked back and forth between the huntresses and Neo. Weiss was steady, official. Blake let a little of her anger bleed through. Velvet was downright shocked at what she just learned. Neo stood next to her, a knowing smirk on her face.

"Oh no, whatever shall I do?" Reaper started in with dry sarcasm. "You have me trapped. It's not like I can just vanish into thin air? Oh wait." The criminal duo disappeared in a flash of light before the huntress could react.

"That little punk can take people with her!?" Weiss fumed. The three huntresses knew they were at a dead end. And worse than that, their target was literally inches from them when she escaped, just like that.


	19. Act 3: Ch 4

Reaper and Neo strode up the path to Reaper's house. Reaper reached out to open the door, and found it unlocked.

 _ **Seriously? What is the point of locking our door?**_

 _I don't know anymore. It's probably just Torchwick._

 _ **The second the half-apes learn how to break in here, we're buying a special combination lock.**_

 _Agreed_

Indeed it was Torchwick inside waiting for them. The man was sitting at the kitchen island, turned to face the door. "So, is it finally done? Can you start searching for the ones after us comfortably?"

"Yes, I believe so." Reaper told him. "Tomorrow. We were tired before my impromptu departure. Now we're exhausted."

"We? And how is Meta?" Roman asked with a smirk.

"Meta?"

"A name for your voice?" he clarified.

 _ **Fuck that.**_

"Don't think so." Reaper relayed. Neo decided to text Reaper her own response.

'What about Ember?' it said.

"Why Ember?" the scythe girl asked her.

'If she controls your Red Hazes, then in a way the red eyes belong to her.' Neo messaged.

 _ **That makes sense… and I kind of like it. Ember.**_

 _You just like it because Neo suggested it._

 _ **Would you please drop that already?**_

Reaper smiled. "Ember it is."

"Well I've got things to do." Roman made his way to the door. "Going to take the extra measure of dissolving Orange Clockwork entirely. You three, enjoy your crazy."

"Do you _have_ to be an ass about everything?" Reaper asked him.

"That's just my charm!" he shouted as he closed the door behind him.

 _ **Why are we even working for him?**_

"Because it's our best option." Reaper replied as she sat at the island. Neo started to work in the kitchen.

 _ **We could always leave and work for ourselves.**_

"We don't the first thing about running an entire organization. We're good with field work, that's it."

 _ **We could grovel to Ozpin.**_

"Weiss just tried to arrest us. They'll never take us back. We're not doing too badly here, and we don't even talk to Roman much. After we finally finish this next thing, it should be smooth sailing."

 _ **Well, the work can be fun.**_

"Yes it can."

Neo pushed Reaper's mixed drink in front of her. The multi-colored girl realized now she made a mistake trying to kill the bunny. She should have realized it would only tick Reaper off, not free her of 'Ruby'. Even with the girl still alive, Neo was making significant progress with Reaper. Reaper didn't miss the apologetic gesture and she sipped from the glass. She was starting to learn all the little things Neo sometimes did in place of words, small hand gestures or unique facial expressions. It was almost as if the smaller girl had her own sign language.

Like now, Reaper could tell that Neo had just heard her speaking aloud to Ember. Again. "I really need to find a way to break that habit…" Reaper pinched the bridge of her nose. Neo shrugged. She actually kind of liked hearing her speak to Ember. It was better than the blank expression she usually got when the entire conversation took place in her head.

"I bet you wish you could hear the other half, huh?" Reaper asked. Neo nodded. "You're the only person I know that _wants_ a voice in their head. Crazy fucking mute…"

'Sexy fucking mute too, right?" Neo messaged with a growing smile. Reaper's head dropped to the table.

 _ **Well… she's not wrong…**_

 _Oh be quiet… I never should have gotten wasted with her…_

* * *

Weiss Schnee was not used to failing anything. After losing Reaper _and_ their most promising lead in a matter of seconds, all Weiss could feel was the failure of the situation. Blake could tell her girlfriend didn't know how to let it go and move on. After waiting up for her until almost midnight, Blake decided it was time to talk. Weiss walked through the dorm door with a tired look in her eyes from staring at a computer screen for too long.

"Orange Clockwork is gone. It just vanished overnight. We have absolutely nothing." Weiss told Blake.

"And how long after learning this did you keep searching for nothing?" Blake asked. Weiss didn't answer. "You can't throw yourself into the abyss like this."

"That girl is out there, doing god knows what. Torchwick is encouraging her and that pipsqueak has her on a leash. If we can find them, we can take them all down." Weiss pointed out.

"Neo has her on a leash? That's not what it looked like to me. Ruby, or Reaper, or whoever she is, stopped Neo. If anything, it's the other way around." Blake responded.

"That doesn't change anything!" The heiress shouted.

"And neither will you if you run yourself into the ground!" the cat girl shouted right back. "I've been where you are, Weiss. With Torchwick and the White Fang. You feel like you're the only one that can stop her. What would do if she stepped through that door?" Blake called upon the memory of Yang lecturing her in the same way.

"I would fight her!" The heiress replied.

"You would lose."

"I can stop her! I have to! She could be killing someone as we speak! Putting them into comas-"

Blake pushed the heiress just as Yang had pushed her to prove her point, and Weiss fell to the ground. "You can't even stop me. You wouldn't stand a chance as you are now." The faunus picked her girlfriend back up and drew her into her arms. "This does you no good if you destroy yourself in the process. The day will come. You have to be ready for it. Get some rest, Weiss. Please."

Weiss sighed. "I'm sorry Blake… I just don't like her being out there like that. Ruby was always so cheery, willing to befriend anyone, willing to help. She wanted to be a hero for the people's sake, not her own. She was arguably the best of all of us…"

"I know..." Blake felt the same. "But you need to pace yourself. There's school, the Vytal Festival. Promise me you'll slow down before you destroy yourself with this search."

"I promise." Weiss nodded. Blake led the heiress to the bed they shared and noted that she was asleep before her head hit the pillow. It almost felt like Blake was watching herself, almost two years ago now. Yang had been there to make Blake see straight, and was definitely a little better at it. But now she was gone, and a case could be made that Ruby was dead now too.

* * *

The next morning Reaper had managed to get up and into Vale without waking and being followed by her pink shadow. It felt good to finally have some time alone, walk the streets with just herself for company.

 _ **Hey, I'm here too.**_

 _Ah yes, how could I forget? Good old Ember… I'll never get a moment to myself ever again, will I?_

 _ **Probably not.**_

 _Please, just for a little while, shut up?_

 _ **Oh come on, we say that to each other so much it's basically our 'I love you'.**_

 _Of course! You're like the conjoined twin I never wanted._

 _ **Oh shut up. See what I mean? We can make this work.**_

 _Maybe you just want to gush about Neo?_

…

 _Eh?_

 _ **Oh shut up…**_

 _I love you too! Maybe you have a point…_

That last comment was only followed by more silence in her head, a rarity Reaper cherished. She figured it was time to get Roman off her back, and set off for what the locals lovingly called 'Poor Town', the 'low income' decrepit slums of Residential that housed more hobos and thieves than anyone actually trying to get back on their feet. With all the discrimination faunus receive, a great many of them make up the population here. There's a good chance that if you're looking for a criminal faunus, they spent some time living in Poor Town.

 _ **Including our monkey friend.**_

Reaper sighed. "Well the silence was good while it lasted…"

The trick for searching places like this was learning how to read people. Many of them didn't like to talk, especially to someone they didn't recognize. The went doubly so for faunus since Reaper was human. One had to look for the people whose tongues could be loosened by cash or coercion. There was the rare 'decent hobo' who would speak freely, but they often didn't know more than rumors and whispers.

 _ **Rumors or whispers can point us in the right direction. Poor Town just keeps getting larger.**_

 _Good point. This guy looks like a good start._

Reaper came up to the vagrant man on the ground. He seemed terrified by the mere sight of the black clad girl. "The grim reaper… that stupid bunny…"

 _ **Stupid bunny?**_

"Listen up, I'm looking for someone." Reaper told him.

"To kill them?" He asked. Reaper realized the rumor of the grim reaper she was the subject of, which she used for her new name, was still strong.

"I haven't decided yet. Maybe I'll let my bloodlust out on you." Reaper told him with a cold edge.

 _ **Ohhh I got chills. Nice one, girl.**_

The vagrant shook in his boots. "Uh… who're you lookin' for…?"

"A monkey, with dark hair and a dark tail." The scythe girl answered. "Has a grudge against Roman Torchwick and likes bombing his legitimate businesses."

"I think I may have overheard something like that from a lion not too long ago…" The vagrant pointed Reaper the way and let out a sigh of relief when she walked away without killing him.

A few blocks later, Reaper confirmed from another street man that this was indeed the area. Next she was going to look for someone who would react to cash or fear. Preferably fear. Not that her criminal ways haven't already earned her a small fortune, but she didn't like spending it if she didn't have to. Especially to one-off informants who will talk you out of the clothes on your back if they think their info is worth it.

She found a likely candidate, leaning against the wall of an alley. The man had a confidence that was hard to come by in this place, and seemed to enjoy watching the people around him. _A careful observer, likely a practiced eavesdropper, watching from the shadows. Perfect._ The second his eyes settled on Reaper, the man knew she saw him and was here for info.

"What do you want to know, sweet heart?" he asked casually.

"A dark haired monkey with a hate-on for Torchwick. Can you point me his way?" Reaper was getting annoyed at repeating this question, but it was a necessary evil.

"Hmmm… perhaps…" It was clear the man wanted payment.

Reaper sighed. "How much?"

"Well… he recently got a powerful friend. Would hate to be on his bad side…"

 _ **Cheeky fuck.**_

Reaper didn't want to pay the man such an excessive amount, and decided to chance an alternate approach. He found himself on the ground halfway into the alley a second later, having been thrown all the way there from his previous position.

"Monkey man may have a powerful friend, but you don't. And I am a _very_ dangerous enemy to have." Reaper threatened, punctuated by the unfolding of Brutal Thorn into its full glory.

The once cocky man's tone changed immediately, and Reaper swore she could smell the piss in his pants. "I-I-I'm sorry! Holy shit! Look, the monkey's name is Maxwell! He likes to call himself Nightshade! He's an anarchist, he doesn't care about Torchwick! He joined up with some group, someone is paying him to bomb the places, providing him with the bomb recipe! He lives just over there!" The man pointed at a nearby building.

"Thank you." Reaper folded Brutal Thorn back into its holder across her back.

 _ **So Maxwell, or rather 'Nightshade', isn't even the top of this chain. Someone has him on a leash.**_

 _Nightshade will know who. And we know where Nightshade lives._

* * *

Nightshade bid his lion partner goodbye at the door. Torchwick changing up his operations will set them back a few days, but he still felt confident they could blow another storefront in just a few days. He was happy. So happy, in fact, he failed to notice his door was already unlocked. He didn't know there was an intruder until he turned the light on and saw a hooded girl sitting on his sofa chair. He recognized her from his research into Torchwick's operation instantly.

"Reaper!? What the hell!? What are you doing here!?"

Under the low hood he could only see the girl's mouth. It was still enough to see her vicious grin. "Hello, Maxwell. We need to talk."

"Like hell. And that's not my name."

Reaper was reminded of her own Ruby/Reaper troubles with her old Beacon friends and found herself laughing. "Very well, Nightshade."

"Get out of my house," Nightshade growled, "before I force you out."

"But I only want to talk. About friends, employers maybe… Who's guiding your hand? Who's holding your leash?"

"A man who's promised no more leashes. But there's a nuisance he wants gone first. And that's my job. Pester the pest." Nightshade answered cryptically.

Reaper looked to the side of herself. To Maxwell, it almost looked as though she was listening to something. The scythe master smiled again and turned back to face the monkey. "If you won't talk to me, perhaps you'll talk to a friend of mine?"

"Call all the friends you want. I won't talk."

Reaper stood and the pair looked at each other for a few moments. Reaper's smile faltered. "It's not working… Looking at him's not getting me angry enough… Yeah, because letting him beat us up a little before fighting back is a _great_ idea… Actually I might." The scythe girl left a very confused monkey boy in the living room as she searched through kitchen drawers.

 _Was she just talking to herself? Is this girl insane?_ He watched as the girl took up a small knife and walked back into the living room. "Let's try this again." She smiled once more and buried the knife into her shoulder. _Definitely insane…_ As the scythe girl slowly pulled the blade from her shoulder, the faunus could fell something. A shift on the energy of the room, a change in the girl in front of him. He finally saw her eyes, and when she opened them they were bright red.

" **Much, much better…** "

She moved faster than Nightshade could see, and he felt the force of a runaway train smash into his side, throwing him against the wall. He pulled out his weapon, but it didn't do him any good. The crazy girl reappeared in front of him, one hand around the wrist of his sword hand and the other toting a massive scythe over her shoulder. A quick flick of her wrist broke his and made him drop his sword, and she used the same grip to throw him across his apartment.

" **This is amazing! I'm still clear headed in this! I can think, I can actually fight! The power, the energy, it's such a rush! Oh, we need to find a way to fight Pyrrha again. I bet we could win this time… Yeah, I know, don't kill him. Guess I just gotta get used to this new strength.** "

The monkey felt himself slam against another wall, and a few of his ribs cracked in the back. "Holy shit… What the fuck are you!?" This girl was very strong, and very crazy, and it all added up to _very_ terrifying.

" **A beautiful nightmare to you. And your final nightmare if you don't talk soon.** " He tried one last desperate attack, and all it earned him was more cracked ribs when he was launched into another wall. " **Ready to talk yet?** " The scythe girl rushed forward.

As she charged, Nightshade found himself shouting the name she wanted to hear. The last name Reaper ever expected to hear.


	20. Act 3: Ch 5

Weiss and Blake headed to the library after they were done with their studies. They had agreed to dedicate time to searching, but just to whatever time they found between homework and dinner. It was their compromise, and Weiss was ready to prove she was ready to pace herself for the long run. After a good night's sleep she could feel her own stupidity.

They set themselves up at the console, but didn't have much to go off of. It seemed Orange Clockwork was indeed disbanded. Weiss decided that Torchwick would have to develop a similar organization in its place, and searched the various markets for any irregularities. Without anything to actually go off of, it could take months of cross-checking before they found something that way. It was all she had though.

After an hour of meticulous combing, the pair were joined by none other than Professor Ozpin. "Hello, ladies. Hard at work?"

"Professor!" Weiss was surprised by his appearance. "What are you doing here?"

"Just checking in. How goes the search?" He asked with a perceptive smile.

The girls looked between each other. If Ozpin already knew, there was no point trying to lie. But… "How did you know?" Weiss voiced the question they both had.

"Not much goes on in my school without my notice." Ozpin answered them. "You two were on site during a bombing, and later a warehouse was caused significant property damage. I had thought Velvet was helping you search?"

"She's… trying to work through some information she learned firsthand… it's kind of disturbing, especially to her." Blake told him.

"Something to do with Ms. Rose?" the headmaster deduced.

"Apparently, Velvet saw Ruby… shift personalities, or something, and then speak with the alternate personality like a voice only she could hear." Weiss explained.

"I see…" Ozpin's grip tightened on his cane. The question he found himself with was which personality is dominant? Reaper, or this new one? Or is it between Reaper and Ruby? He was going to have to talk to Velvet to be sure. "Ms. Belladonna, something else seems to be troubling you."

"Well… I don't know… the people we ran into at the bombing seemed to be fighting against Torchwick." Blake told him.

"But there's more to it than that." The headmaster was as observant as ever.

"It was in the way he talked about me…" Blake explained further. "And then there was the bomb. It looked exactly like… I've only ever seen one person make and use a bomb like that. But he's locked deep in Atlas somewhere. Or, he's supposed to be…"

Ozpin knew straightaway who she was talking about. "Well, it seems I have a conversation with Ironwood in my future. I'll let you know how it goes…" Ozpin left the girls.

Weiss didn't catch on to the mysterious individual as quickly as the headmaster had. After Ozpin left she turned on her girlfriend with a questioning gaze. "Blake, why haven't you said anything? Who's supposed to be locked deep in Atlas?"

* * *

"Adam Taurus!" Nightshade shouted as Reaper, with Ember in control, rushed toward him. Brutal Thorn's blade dug into the wall a few inches beside him.

 _What did he say!?_ Reaper shouted from Ember's usual spot in their shared mind.

" **What did you say…?** " Ember repeated.

"Adam Taurus! He got out of Atlas. Wanted to revive the Fang, but once he heard Torchwick was in town, wanted revenge first. He blames him for the Fang falling apart, for the attack on the school two years ago turning to shit." Nightshade spoke all of this quickly, wanting to save his own skin. This job wasn't worth it if people like _this_ were after him.

Images flashed from Reaper, flooding Ember as well. Images of a happy blonde, full of life. Images that were interrupted by white masks and red horns. Then all that was left was the blood… With a scream, Reaper pulled Brutal Thorn's trigger, sending the blade towards Nightshade's neck. Ember just managed to stop it from killing him, the blade resting on his neck. Blood trickled from where is barely broke his skin.

 _Fuck! I'm sorry._

 _ **It's fine, I understand. I only took control again and kept us from killing him so we could ask him more questions.**_

The next thing Ember said wasn't exactly a question, but her especially extra-vicious tone made it clear she expected answers. " **Tell. Us. Everything.** "

It was fun watching a monkey play canary. Nightshade was desperate to keep his life, and spilled everything he knew. With all this information, Reaper was sure she could find a way through. His headquarters actually weren't too far from here, in fact. Ember pulled Brutal Thorn from the wall and used the back end of the blade to knock him out. The force may have snapped his neck, actually, but the scythe girl didn't stick around to check.

A few blocks over, Reaper took position on a rooftop overseeing the target building. Through Brutal Thorn's scope, she could see the lay of the land, including security forces.

 _ **Ahhh it's kinda good to be back in here. Fighting's fun, but having a body is exhausting. You definitely don't have to worry about me taking over permanently.**_

 _Good, because I found your little corner of our mind cramped as all hell._

 _ **Hey! It's comfy back here! Perfect for me, anyway.**_

Reaper took mental notes of everything and folded Brutal Thorn. It did not look good. Security was tighter than the Council of Vale. Maybe Neo could help her sneak in, but without knowing the layout it could be risky. Adam spent enough time with Neo while they were still working together to be aware of her illusions, and it would be something he would watch out for if he was fighting Torchwick. Spend too much time searching and he could notice something isn't right.

Reaper began formulating a plan on her way back under. By the time she entered her house, she was confident in a particular course of action. Neo was waiting in the kitchen, and noted Reaper's sour disposition. Working quickly, the voiceless girl made the two-voiced girl her drink. "Definitely need one of those right now…" Reaper took a generous gulp.

She could feel it begin to relax her tensions. Reaper noticed she was starting to look forward to having one or two of these a night to relax, especially after a day like today. Not that she was becoming dependent on it, but it was delicious and it certainly helped her unwind. It wasn't like she was getting herself wasted every night or anything. She opened her eyes and saw Neo trying to figure out what to do with herself.

The multi-colored girl wouldn't admit it, but she had been like that all day. She had woken up and Reaper was already gone. Not just out of the room, but apparently all the way up in Vale. It had been the first time in a long while the two were separated like that, but Neo figured out that maybe Reaper wanted some time alone. So she took care of some gang-related responsibilities she had been putting off but soon found herself back in Reaper's house, just kind of waiting. Whatever the scythe master preferred, Neo definitely would much rather stay by Reaper's side.

"So I found our monkey, Maxwell. Or Nightshade, he calls himself Nightshade." Reaper began. Neo nodded to show she was listening. "He was our bomber, but someone else was pointing him our way. Adam Taurus." Neo was shocked. She thought he was still locked up in Atlas somewhere. "Apparently everyone thinks that." Reaper told her, expertly reading her body language. She spent so much time with the girl (against her will sometimes) that it was about time she picked up on Neo's unique language.

"Look, Neo, I've got the Intel, and I have a plan…" Reaper continued. "But you're not going to like it."

 _ **I don't like it either.**_

"Shut it, Ember. You got a better one?"

…

"Didn't think so."

* * *

The clockwork in Ozpin's office ticked away, marking the passing seconds as the headmaster awaited a return on his call to Ironwood. The news of Adam's possible freedom was deeply troubling. If he was indeed attacking Torchwick, it may draw Reaper to him. If Winter, Emerald and Mercury were anything to go off of, the bull-headed faunus may have bit off more than he could chew. Finally Ironwood called back.

"Hello, Ozpin. I assume this isn't a social call." Ironwood recalled how their last conversation ended.

"Indeed." Ozpin responded. "I was hoping to ask you about Adam Taurus."

"What about him?" James asked.

The headmaster kept a smirk from his face. The general did his best to remain stoic, but the huntsman could see the trouble pass through his eyes. "I think you know, James."

Ironwood sighed. "We didn't even notice until a few days ago. The man in Taurus's cell wasn't Adam. A clever make up job on a murdered security guard."

"I see. There are possible signs of him in Vale." Ozpin informed him.

"We know. We've been tracking him. We should close in on his operation any day now. You don't have to worry about him. Focus on finding Reaper. She may need _help_." The general cut the line. He was still upset Ozpin had let the entire Palette Mafia go to try and save one girl who may be beyond saving. The way Ozpin saw it, one way or another, the Palette Mafia was harmless now. Taking them down would have only let Torchwick take his place regardless.

He sighed and stood. If Weiss and Blake were intent on continuing their investigation (and if he knew anything about team RWBY, it was 'good luck holding them back') then this information could only be of help. He had told them would let them know anyway. He later found Blake with Velvet, wandering the halls.

"I still don't know exactly what to tell him… how do you let someone down easily?" Blake vented.

"I don't know. I've only ever been in one relationship." Velvet told her.

"Well, it's harder than it looks." Blake told her.

"Don't tell me you really do still have feelings for him?"

"Of course not. I love Weiss, and I'm not going to leave her. But they were real once… and Sun felt that… it's going to devastate him, and I can't stop that."

"Putting it off isn't going to make it any better." Velvet warned. Blake knew that. She just really wished she could find a magical second option.

Ozpin smiled and turned the corner. "Young love. Unfortunately, I do not have a class for it. Even _I_ don't understand the mysteries of the heart." He nodded to the girls. "Ms. Belladonna. Ms. Scarlatina."

"Professor Ozpin!" Blake turned eight shades of red, not knowing how much of the conversation the headmaster overheard.

"Where is Ms. Schnee?" he asked the girls.

"Weiss is in the library, trying to find anything that points to Adam." Blake told him.

"I see. She's working alone today?"

"I dragged Blake along for a day off." Velvet explained. "My team is going on a fourth year mission tomorrow, and we don't know how long we'll be gone."

Ozpin nodded. "Well, Ms. Belladonna, I just came from a call with the general."

"About Adam?"

"Yes. It seems he has escaped. Atlas hasn't said anything yet because they are confident they will recapture him soon." Ozpin explained. "You should go inform Ms. Schnee. There is something I wanted to talk to Ms. Scarlatina about." Blake nodded and took off.

Velvet had a feeling she knew what Ozpin wanted to talk about. "This is about what I saw in the warehouse, isn't it?"

"I would like to hear it in detail so that I may draw conclusions."

"Well… when she first showed up, she talked to Neopolitan… well, lectured her, really, about going out of her way to kill me. Except it didn't sound like Ruby speaking." Velvet began.

"Like someone else was speaking through her?" Ozpin asked.

"No, like she was purposefully altering her voice to disguise it." the rabbit girl clarified. "Like that one superhero, the billionaire with the gadgets. It was still her voice, but it wasn't Ruby."

"Two personas… did one of them seem more like the Ruby you remember?"

Velvet shook her head. "I didn't get to see the other personality long, but I get the feeling they were more similar than a normal split personality. It could be that the heavy amount of aura and dual semblances weighed Ruby's mind and broke it into two similar halves. Or it may be another product of the Aura-Link itself, a twisted version of Yang that held on to her aura as it was transferred."

"Either way, this can all be traced back to that event." Ozpin lamented. He made a promise to watch over Ruby. With every passing day, he was more and more concerned it really was too late.

* * *

Late that night Blake settled down for sleep. Weiss achieved rest far earlier, but something kept Blake up. Something prickling her faunus senses, just at the edge. Adam's evident return was making her more than a little paranoid, and she couldn't help but keep one eye on the door. Which proved useful as she heard a knock around midnight. She got up slowly and pulled out Gambol Shroud from under the bed.

Poised to strike, she opened the door to reveal… nothing. She looked down the hall one way, and saw more nothing. She turned her head down the other end of the hall and saw a shadow slip around the corner. Her eyes narrowed and she followed the shadow. She turned the corner and saw the shadow again as it slipped down another hall and out of sight.

They continued this game of cat and mouse (Yang would be so proud) all the way up to the roof. It was then that Blake could properly see who had gotten her to follow them. She remembered the long black cape from the warehouse a few nights ago. Neopolitan was standing next to Reaper, with a very unhappy look on her face.

"What the hell are you doing here?" the huntress asked them. It was far to open to try and arrest them on her own, with Neo's teleporting and Reaper's speed. They took the precautions but they were here for a reason, and Blake doubted her following them was an accident.

"We need your help, Blake." Reaper told her.

The cat girl was taken aback. "What makes you think I'm willing to help you?"

"Because Adam is in Vale," Reaper explained. "And I know where."

Blake was shocked once more. Could it really be that easy? "Where?"

"That information comes at a price." Reaper had the whole thing figured out. "Agree to help us, and we'll take you there. Believe it or not, I don't want to kill misguided faunus any more than you do. But time is short. He may already know that I know by now."

Blake's ear twitched, and the cat girl suppressed a smile. "All right. I'll help you. Just let me go change out of my yakuta."

"We have clothes for you. Sorry, but you're not going to say anything to Weiss. Come on." Blake changed while managing not to completely remove her yakuta until she was done. Then, the 'plan' necessitated the confiscation of Gambol Shroud. Blake would have rather kept it, but she was going to get her chance to confront Adam again. Reaper was no idiot; she knew Blake would spend the entire time thinking of ways to bring her in too. As long as she planned for every outcome, she would be fine.


	21. Act 3: Ch 6

Blake walked towards the building Adam was using for his headquarters, seemingly alone. Despite being fully clothed, she felt naked without her weapon. But the plan really did need Reaper to hold onto it until it was time. After having it explained to her, Blake agreed it was a decent plan for such short notice. The only real obstacle, getting the cat girl to accept to it, was already passed.

The guards at the front gate witnessed her approach. "What are you doing here?" One of them asked.

"I heard an old friend of mine was in town." Blake replied.

"Aint no friends around here, kitty."

"Just call up your boss and tell him Blake Belladonna is here unarmed and wishes to speak with him." The cat girl told them.

The two traded nervous glances and one of them went inside. This was the moment of truth. Reaper theorized, and Blake agreed, that Adam would drop his guard and allow only one person to see him, especially if she appeared to have come for a parley. Behind Blake, illusioned out of sight, waited Reaper and Neo. The guards would (hopefully) lead the unarmed Blake right to Adam, and accidentally lead the fully armed criminal duo to him as well.

The guard returned and bid Blake inside. It was tricky, but Reaper and Neo just managed to slip through the closing door and stay with the cat girl. They stuck close to her in the halls, careful not to bump into people or objects. Just as the scythe girl assumed, the interior was a maze. She and Neo would have never found Adam on their own, not without making a mistake first.

Around one final corner was a door. The guard opened it, and gestured for Blake to enter alone. She stalled for a moment, playing at hesitation, to give Reaper and Neo an opportunity to sneak inside. Stepping through herself, she laid eyes on Adam Taurus for the first time in almost two years.

"Hello… my love." He turned to face her. "You really did come unarmed, I see. Interesting. Why are you here?"

He was answered the slamming and locking of doors. "I'm here to bring you in." Blake told him. She was handed Gambol Shroud as Reaper and Neo shimmered into view.

He looked between the two newcomers. "You realize these are criminals too, Blake. Killers. But they fight for themselves, not for honor! I am trying to free us!" He raised Wilt in time to stop the cat girl's blade. Blake offered no more words in return, just action as she fought Adam. "Turn your blade on them, huntress! Don't think they won't do the same when you're done with me!" Blake continued to ignore him and swung again.

The size of the room worked to Blake's advantage, as she freely used her after images in the large area. Adam restrained from using his more powerful attacks, not wanted to destroy his own base. Neo knew she didn't stand a chance against someone of the bull-man's strength, and opted to stay out. She knew Reaper could handle it enough for both of them anyway, she just needed an opportunity to step in.

Reaper herself was breathing hard. She had forgotten the knife she meant to pick up at the house, the one Neo once gave her to activate the Red Haze. But she didn't need it this time. Just looking at Adam brought forth memories of a bloodied blonde, one killed by his red blade. Reaper felt herself slide to the back of her mind as Ember used the Red Haze to take over.

 _Great. Cramped again._

 _ **Don't worry, I don't plan to draw out this fight. I may not have technically existed yet, but she was my sister too.**_

Despite her having nearly three years of special training, Blake still found battling Adam difficult. He could always read her attack before she made it, he knew her better than almost anyone. She left an after image to try and gain space to think, but the bull man saw right through it, and Wilt found its true mark, sending Blake against the wall. Blake reached out for her sword. Just before her fingers reached it, a black boot came down on the blade and kicked it across the room.

" **Sorry, kitty cat. This fight is mine now.** " Ember winked and unfolded Brutal Thorn.

"I remember you," Adam remarked as Ember turned to face him, "The hero. How's that working out for you?"

 _Heroes only exist in fairy tales._

" **Heroes only exist in fairy tales. We've learned our lesson. Beacon shares it, in fact. You don't keep monsters alive.** " Ember replied.

Blake's eyes widened at this response. She wanted to bring Adam down, but she was about to witness a fight to the death. She didn't know if she could bear to watch either of her former friends die. Adam laughed at the statement. "Well, at least I know you're going to be fun."

Adam charged in close and pulled Blush's trigger, intending to send Wilt's handle into the scythe masters face to disorient her. He didn't anticipate the girls speed to block the attack, or the strength she would have to do so by grabbing Wilt's pommel and shoving the blade back in its sheath. She followed through with her shove, forcing Adam off-balance for her counter, which he barely dodged by back flipping away. Adam smiled. If this initial volley was a taste of things to come, this was going to be really fun.

Their fight carried on, their blades only connecting with each other for a great while. Adam finally managed to step inside Brutal Thorn and deliver a strike across his opponents gut. She remained intact and recovered quickly, making Adam remember he was fighting a huntress (or a former one at least) and would have to wear through her aura before delivering a killing blow.

Ember stepped in and Adam raised Wilt defensively. Her swing, to his surprise, was short and missed both him and Wilt by inches. He would regret his momentary lapse when she spun and used the speared back to disarm him. She finished her spin with the true blade of the scythe. His aura held, but the attack was powerful.

 _This just keeps getting better,_ he frowned. _It must be her semblance to attack with such strength and speed._

Ember struck Adam a few more times, the final one being with the back end of the scythe across his face, sending him across the room with his mask broken. Adam landed by Wilt and picked up the blade. He now knew he wouldn't win a long fight, and needed to end things. He needed to charge up for a powerful slice. He began the process, only needing one opportunity to finish this.

Ember was looking to finish things as well, charging in. Aura could only do so much, and Adam must already be very low. It was a comfort to know that even under her control, the Red Haze was just as powerful physically. She jumped, intending to use the downward momentum to strengthen the blow further. A smirk played across the bulls face, and Reaper instantly remembered when he had done the same thing to Yang.

 _Oh-_

"- **Shit.** "

Ember recalled Brutal Thorn across her chest when Adam's attack went off. The energy sliced clean through the sniper-scythe's barrel-handle, and even Reaper's massive aura could only barely stop the attack. Ember felt a gash appear on their torso. She fell to the other side of the room. Adam smiled and walked calmly to her.

"Well, you were definitely strong. But foolish. And in the end, it takes more smarts to win a battle." He gloated, unsheathing Wilt to finish the scythe girl off. "It's funny, I never even knew your name."

He brought Wilt down and suddenly felt a vice grip around his wrist. His eyes immediately darted to the girl's torso, which was already closing up. _Clever broad, she must have pulled her aura back at the last second so she would have some to heal with._ Ember didn't have enough reserve to heal the wound completely, but it stopped bleeding and allowed her to move.

She stood quickly. With her left hand around his wrist, she used her right shoulder to knock him back. She used that momentum to throw herself into a spin, ripping Wilt from Adam's hand and finishing the twirl by burying it hilt-deep in his chest. " **I have a few names. None of them you will ever get the chance make use of.** " Adam was dumbfounded. His last bit of aura apparently wasn't enough to stop a thrust of his own weapon. He stumbled backward and fell to his knees.

"Huh… Never thought it would end like this…" Adam looked at Wilt's handle as it was flush with his chest. Neo walked up to Ember/Reaper and handed the girl the top half of Brutal Thorn, the part with the scythe blade.

" **Hmmm… would you like to do the honors, Reaper?** "

 _Of course._

Red eyes closed and silver eyes opened. Reaper brought the blade up and looked Adam in the eye. "This is for my sister, you son of a _Bitch_." She brought the serrated blade down and across, sweeping Adam's head right off of his shoulders. People will tell you revenge is unending and never satisfying. Reaper didn't know about other people, but she felt a weight lift from her shoulders as she watched the lifeless body of her sister's killer tumble to the ground. She took a deep breath of air, and it felt new.

 _It feels like I can finally move on…_

 _ **Way to go, girl.**_

Blake was right about one thing. No matter the situation, she couldn't bear to watch a former friend fall like that. And to boot, it was by the merciless hand of the girl that was once the sweet, innocent Ruby Rose.

Reaper walked towards the huntress and held out her hand. "Now we know the way, I can zoom us out of here. We'll go our separate ways after that."

Blake caught a flash of white out of the corner of her eye. "It's about time…"

"Huh… I figured you wouldn't want him dea-ohh!" Blake grabbed Reaper's hand and pulled her away from Neo. A wall of Ice cut the room into two, with the multi-colored girl trapped on the other side.

 _ **What the hell!**_

"What the- hello, Weiss. Fancy meeting you here." Reaper spotted the heiress approach. The scythe girl got onto her feet with the upper half of Brutal Thorn in her hand, her other hand holding her fresh wound. "So what did I miss?"

"I was always a light sleeper." Weiss answered. "I noticed the second Blake got out of bed, and followed you two."

Reaper thought back to the rooftop, to when she saw Blake's ear twitch and a smile tug her lips. At the time she thought it was for an idea to warn Weiss, but now she figured the faunus sensed the heiress eavesdropping. It was likely the only reason she went through with Reaper's plan. She knew she had backup, she trusted Weiss like that. She once trusted Ruby like that, too…

"You really think the two of you can stop me?" Reaper asked. Not that she would allow herself to kill them. Reaper briefly wondered if they would believe that if she told them.

"Maybe not." Weiss replied. "But I figured we could hold you back until the Atlesian Army storms this place looking for Adam. You don't even have Neopolitan's help. I knew it was vital we separate you two."

 _Atlas is going to raid the building? Crap…_ The scythe master ran through various scenarios in her head, and only came to one conclusion.

"Neo!" Reaper yelled. "Get yourself out of here! I know you're planning something, but just don't. I can handle myself, I'll be back under before you know it!" She watched the ice wall. "Neo!" She shouted one more time, and saw a flash of white light through the ice. Reaper let out a sigh of relief. _At least Neo is safely away…_

 _ **We are not getting out of this, are we?**_

 _Sorry, Ember. Even if we could get through Weiss and Blake in our current state, we are in no condition to face an entire army._

 _ **So what are our survival instincts telling you?**_

 _That there is a time to fight, a time to run… and a time to surrender._

Reaper dropped her half-a-weapon. "Congratulations, team RWBY. You caught the bad guy, for once. Bonzai."

* * *

Neo didn't want to still be there when the Atlas Army arrived, so she took Reaper's command to heart and booked it all the way back under. It wasn't until she was safely under the lights of Reaper's home that she let herself stop long enough to breath. With nothing else to do, she began pacing the house, waiting for Reaper. With each passing minute, she grew more and more concerned.

 _She assured me she could handle them, that she didn't need my help. She wouldn't have lied to me, would she? What reason would she have to? Would she be afraid I was caught too? True I didn't have any real idea what to do next… if Atlas is really on the way, I don't think I could have gotten both of us out before they showed up. Not with the huntresses puppy guarding Reaper. But if she really called me off knowing she was screwed, was she being a good criminal? 'Honor among thieves'? Or was she concerned for_ me _?_

Neo found the latter theory far more acceptable, but had a feeling even if it was true Reaper wasn't ready to admit it yet. She would just have to ask and tease her when she came home, because Reaper was _definitely_ coming home. _Just like she assured me she will. She has too… if Reaper was caught, what would that mean for me?_ Neo paced some more and watched the clock on the wall. Ten minutes had passed.

 _Only ten minutes and I'm letting myself freak out this much? Okay, calm down. Even with her speed, it may take some time to lose the huntresses. She was injured, after all. Maybe her injury got her caught… or maybe it's just slowing her down, think positive you crazy mute!_

Neo took a deep breath. Twenty four hours. By the time twenty four hours were up Reaper would have either returned here, or be locked up in the same cell she would have until trial. So, twenty four hours is what Neo was going to give the scythe master before tearing off to rescue her. One way or another, she could no longer imagine her criminal life without Reaper.

The clock ticked on and Neo felt her nerves rising again. She looked at the clock to see only five more minutes had passed since her last peek. _This is going to be the longest twenty four hours of my life._


	22. Act 3: Ch 7

Weiss didn't lower Myrtenaster until the Atlesian forces showed up. They had to carry their intended target off in a body bag, but general Ironwood was more than happy to arrest Reaper. She was brought to a cell in the city jailhouse specially made for dangerous aura users with a strength semblance. Even after her wound finished closing, there was no chance for escape on her own. There she would stay until the Valen Council organized a trial for her. Reaper expected to spend the whole time alone, just her and Ember, but she soon found herself with visitors.

"I must remind you it would be a bad idea to pass her any items unless they are cleared for her possession." She heard the guard speak from down the hall, out of sight from her reinforced glass wall.

"Don't worry, we won't be giving her anything." Weiss's cold voice sounded from around the corner.

"The 'we' must mean at least Blake is with her." Reaper spoke aloud to Ember and raised her hood.

 _ **What the hell are they doing here?**_

"I'm sure she's more than willing to yell that info at us."

"Blake, what are you waiting for?" Weiss's voice came again. Blake didn't speak for a few moments.

"How often does she talk to herself like that?" Blake asked, likely to the guard.

"More than I want to hear. Crazy broad…" the guard answered.

Weiss walked into view with Blake in tow. Two seats rose from the ground outside the cell for the visitors to sit on. One rose inside for Reaper as well, but she decided to continue leaning against the back wall of her cell. Weiss waited for her to move in vain.

"Well, if you're not going to sit with us, at least lower your hood so we can look you in the eye." The heiress told her. "Or are you that much of a coward now?"

Under the hood, Reaper flinched. She _was_ a coward. After everything she abandoned, she still couldn't look her old friends in the eye, especially after Blake witnessed her express her chosen namesake. She didn't lower her hood, but she did go to sit on her seat.

Weiss _huffed_. "Good enough, I suppose."

"What are you doing here?" Reaper asked them, wanting to just get this over with.

"I need to know why." Blake started. "Why did you leave? What happened to you? What turned you into this?"

"I learned life was no fairy tale." Reaper replied quickly.

"You once told me that that's why huntsmen and huntresses are here, to make things better." The cat girl used Ruby's words against her.

"And I turned out to be a great example of 'making things better'." Reaper shot back. "Ruby was a naïve fifteen year old girl when she told you that. With big dreams of being a huntress and making the world a better place. But the world doesn't care. There are no heroes."

"You never let that stop you before. Just when did you stop trying to be one?" Weiss asked.

The scythe master recalled a night in an ally, what felt like an age ago now, when Neo found her. "When I learned I couldn't be one anymore. When I learned it was better to start looking after myself first, instead of everyone else."

Blake looked at the girl she saw slaughter Adam just a few hours ago. She wanted to hate her for willingly becoming a criminal. She wanted to be angry at her for becoming 'Reaper'. But she couldn't. She knew her mind was broken and everything Beacon taught her, everything Ruby and Yang taught her, screamed at her to try and help.

"Ruby, you know my past." She told the scythe girl. "If there's one thing I've learned, it's that it's never too late."

"That's not my name." Reaper made sure to pronounce the words clearly. She was sick of people calling her 'Ruby'.

"I told you this was pointless." Weiss scowled and stood to leave. Blake hesitated for just a moment before following her girlfriend out of the jailhouse.

"Turns out the princess is even less forgiving than we thought."

 _ **And that's saying something.**_

An hour or so later one of the visitor seats rose again, as well and the inside seat.

 _ **Must be Ironwood again, trying to squeeze information about Torchwick out of us.**_

To her surprise, it wasn't Ironwood. Instead, a grey haired man, well dressed in a green suit and carrying a cane.

"Ozpin?" Reaper spoke incredulously as he sat on the visitors seat.

"They should really find a way to make these more comfortable." He though out loud, trying to sit comfortably.

 _ **Well, I doubt they get used often.**_

"Well, I doubt they get used often." Reaper repeated the remark from Ember. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to speak with you, Ruby."

"That's not my-! You know what, never mind… call me what you want, everyone else fucking does." Reaper's eyes tinted red.

"My apologies, Reaper… I hope you can forgive an old man and his hopes." Ozpin told her.

"What are you doing here?" She repeated.

"Like I said. I just want to talk."

"About?"

"Roman Torchwick."

Reaper rolled her eyes and turned her back to Ozpin. _Of course._

 _ **Why not just tell them? What do we owe that asshole?**_

"He may be an asshole, but if we get out of this, he's still our best option."

 _ **And how exactly will we get out of this?**_

"I don't know… Neo will probably come for us when we don't return after a day or two."

 _ **We could grovel to Ozpin. He is right here.**_

"I'm not going to-! Shit, I'm talking to you out loud again, aren't I?"

 _ **Yup.**_

"If you can tell, why don't you fucking warn me!?"

 _ **Since you can't see it, I just shrugged.**_

"Oh my god… you're an asshole too… at least I can get away from Roman…"

Ozpin cleared his throat loudly, demanding the attention of the captured criminal. "Reaper, you remember that you owe me a favor, correct?"

 _Shit._

 _ **He wouldn't… would he?**_

"You want to waste it on stupid information? Trust me, it will do you no good." Reaper warned Ozpin.

"Not just information. Cooperation." The headmaster clarified.

"How so?"

"If you can help us take down Torchwick, it would go a long way to prove a defense I've prepared." Ozpin explained.

"Defense?" Reaper asked, confused.

"What would you say if I told you I may have found a way to place you back at Beacon? Under a 'Rehabilitative Custody' program?"

The scythe girl's eyes widened. "Bullshit. Why the hell would you want me back?"

"I told you I made a promise. I intend to keep it." the headmaster reminded her.

"That promise was for Ruby." Reaper huffed. "I'm not Ruby. There's no helping me, no 'saving' me."

"It's not too late to change again."

"You all keep saying that!" Reaper yelled, her eyes brightening. "You, Blake, Velvet, you keep saying 'it's not too late'! It is! Ruby! Is! Gone! I can never come back as a huntress!"

"Why do you believe you are so irredeemable?" Ozpin asked.

"Because of who I've become! I'm a liar, a thief! I'm certifiably insane, and I'm a killer!" Reaper shouted.

 _ **Are you shouting at Ozpin, or at yourself?**_

Reaper froze at Ember's words. So much had happened, she had changed so much. But she didn't regret her life now, did she?

 _I don't regret killing Adam… I don't regret stealing… Hell, I don't even regret sleeping with Neo._

 _ **But you do regret not taking Ozpin's offer before. I know you, Reaper. I've always been the voice of your deepest desires. Back during our infiltration of Beacon I told you of your growing addiction to Neo, of your desire to spar in class and be with Velvet. You would want to call them temptation, and maybe I am a temptress. But I've never told you anything you weren't already thinking deep down. And one desire, buried deeper than the rest under layers of betrayal and survival, was the hope to one day return to Beacon.**_

Reaper knew Ember was right. But was it really possible? Would anyone accept her back? "I still don't know… if I can be saved…"

Ozpin stood to leave. "You're the only who seems to think you can't. So the question is, is everyone else wrong, or are you? Are you really beyond saving, or do you not want to be saved?"

* * *

Reaper walked through the courtyard at Beacon. Everything was bright and shiny, and far too empty. "What the hell are we doing here?" Silence. "Hello? Ember?"

"She's not here. It's just you and me, Rubes."

Reaper turned to the voice and saw Yang standing behind her. "Of course. This is a dream. And that's not my name."

"Mmmmmmm I don't care." Yang smiled and ruffled Reaper's hair. "You're still my lil' sis!"

Reaper stared the blonde in the eyes. "Even after everything I've done?"

"Things have been hard for you." Yang shrugged. "And having my semblance certainly hasn't helped you much. Besides, you know me. I go with the flow of things, always quick to move on. When I look at you, I see Ruby. Even with the blood on your hands. Hell, if it had been the other way around, I probably would have raided Atlas to kill Adam with my bare hands."

"Yang… are you really here?" Reaper asked.

"That's on you to figure out." She smirked. "Now it's my turn to ask you a question. And you're not allowed a vague answer or an 'I don't know'!"

"Hey, that's not fair!" Reaper shouted.

"Mmmmmmm I don't care! So, Ruby." Yang looked her sister in the eye. "What do you want?"

"Want…?" Reaper looked down. She didn't know.

"Yeah. Forget your life choices up until now. Forget Neo, forget Velvet, forget 'Reaper' and 'Ruby'." Yang poked the scythe girl in the chest. "In your heart, what do you want?"

 _What do I want? I don't know… I've been working with Roman not because I wanted to, but… I don't even know why. Survival? Something to do with myself? Can I really leave it behind? It's not like I regret it…_

"You know, you don't have to regret something to not want it anymore." Yang pointed out.

Reaper looked back up at her sister and realized she was right. She didn't regret her criminal life, but it wasn't what she wanted. "How can I do this, though? I can't just flip a switch and be Ruby again, and I'll always have to deal with Ember. No way am I medicating out my one way to control your semblance."

"You'll always be Ruby to me, but as far as out there in real life? I saaayyyyy… Don't be Ruby. Be Reaper the huntress. That's your path forward. Who knows? Maybe someday, you'll magically find Ruby again."

"I doubt it, Yang… I think Ruby really is gone forever. But Reaper the huntress? That does sound good."

Yang smiled and turned to face Dream-Beacon. "The view from Vale's got nothing on this."

Reaper turned around as well and smiled. The rest of the memory faded into the dream, with all the people and their weapons.

"Of course, you still see the weapons first. 'That girl's got a fire sword!'" Yang teased.

"Shut up!" Ruby shouted and the sisters shared a laugh.

"I love you, Rubes."

"I love you too, Yang. Goodbye."

Silver eyes opened to see the ceiling of her cell. The clock chimed midnight.

 _ **There you are! What the hell happened to you? You kinda vanished, it was weird…**_

 _I was gone? Could that really have been her?_

 _ **Who?**_

Instead of answering Ember, Reaper got up and banged on the glass of her cell. "Guard! I want to talk to Ozpin!"

* * *

"I said I wanted to talk to Ozpin." Reaper told Ironwood.

"Anything truly urgent can be passed along." He replied.

Reaper may be turning herself around, but she still found the general hard to trust. She didn't like the way she read him. "I'm talking to Ozpin. Not to you."

"Please, Ruby-"

"That's not her name, general." Ozpin spoke as he stepped into the room. "Nothing needs to be passed on if I'm here to hear it. You may leave us if you wish." Ironwood glared at Ozpin and stood from the seat, but didn't leave the cell block. Ozpin sat down. "You wanted to see me?"

"I know what I want. I'm taking you up on your offer." Reaper told him. "On a few conditions."

"We aren't going to negotiate with the likes of-"

"James, please." Ozpin turned to him. "You have no reason to remain in Vale, and unlike during the last festival where you held security, I still maintain higher jurisdiction over this situation. Now, this time I really am asking you to leave."

Ironwood's glare strengthened, but he had no choice but to take his leave this time.

"You two have a bit of a falling out?" Reaper observed.

"One could say that. I was supposed to give you a false drive with a tracking device within during your last 'visit' to Beacon." The headmaster confessed. "We have strongly different opinions on how you should be treated."

"For one of my conditions, I won't be 'treated'." Reaper took the comment as a segue. "I may be crazy, but Ember, the other voice? She can take over and control the Red Haze. It's one of the reasons I feel comfortable coming back."

"I see. I believe we can work with that. And the others?" Ozpin asked.

"Just one." Reaper told him. "That we follow my plan for taking down Torchwick. All of his files are stored on his system, everything you need to take him down. He also has backups, hidden in locations only he knows, so that if the complex was raided he could delete the files, and then you wouldn't even find enough to hold him."

"So we can't raise his suspicion. You're suggesting an inside job. You want me to sanction you returning on your own." Ozpin deduced.

"One way or another, either my return to Beacon is genuine or it isn't." Reaper explained. "I'll give you the location of the underground complex where he hides his gang. You can raid it when I give the all clear, or when I don't return after a while."

"Forgive my cautionary lack of trust, but how can I know the location is genuine?" Ozpin asked.

The scythe girl smiled. "You're headmaster of Beacon. I'm sure you know _someone_ who can scout a location like that without being caught."

The headmaster nodded. "Very well. We'll consider this your first test of your new leaf. Once the location is confirmed, you will have a few hours to find your opportunity to steal the files and get them to me before we raid."


	23. Act 3: Ch 8

By the time dawn broke, Reaper was breathing stale underground air.

 _ **We're really doing this thing?**_

 _Yup._

 _ **There are other ways. Why tell Ozpin this is the way to go?**_

 _There are a few things I want to take care of._

 _ **So wait, are we Reaper or Ruby?**_

 _We're Reaper the huntress._

 _ **Ohh I get it. Alright then, let's do this.**_

Reaper made a beeline for Roman's villa. She couldn't deny there was some smug satisfaction in taking the insufferable man down a few pegs. She strode purposefully through the halls of the house and headed straight for Torchwick's office.

"Is Roman in?" Reaper asked Ditz.

The blonde had to think for a moment before responding. "I don't think… wait, yes! Yes, he is."

Reaper shook her head and walked through the doors. The man was enjoying a cigar on his balcony. "Roman!" the scythe girl called for his attention.

"Reaper?" Roman turned quickly. "You made it out! I'm glad, Neo's going stir crazy in your house. I just can't seem to get her under control anymore…"

"I'll talk to her. You need to talk to Junior." Reaper easily lied.

"About what?"

"Someone apparently broke into his office and stole some files. He wanted to talk to you directly." Reaper continued.

"When did you learn this while running from your friends?" Roman asked, though she could tell he trusted her info as he got ready to leave.

"I was injured." She pointed at the tear in her jacket, a thin scar visible underneath. "Found it hard to shake my old friends like that, so I needed to lay low. I was by the club."

"I see. Glad to have you back, truly, but it seems I have to dash." Roman hurried out of the office and left Reaper behind.

She smiled and sat herself at his computer, popping in a memory drive. It only took a few moments to delete Neo's files and copy the entire rest of his computer onto the drive. After removing the drive, Reaper had one more thing she wanted to do. Using Roman's terminal, she accessed the various monetary accounts for the entire organization. She set up a new account, password locked it, and sent all the legitimate money that couldn't be used for evidence anyway (which was nearly all of it) into it.

 _ **Did we just steal all of everybody's money down here?**_

 _Basically. If I'm leaving this life, I'm taking a few souvenirs with me._

 _ **Yeah, just a few, nearly a couple billion. Go Reaper the Huntress!**_

Now there was only one thing left to do. She got up and made her way to her own home, where she knew Neo would be waiting before Torchwick told her. She entered the front door and saw the multi-colored girl's head shoot to the door. Neo practically melted with how much tension was suddenly relaxed by finally seeing Reaper just a few hours shy of the twenty four hour mark.

Reaper went to the master bedroom and opened a drawer. She pulled out a small, smooth edged knife. The same knife Neo gave her on Ironwood's flagship. Pocketing it, she returned to the kitchen. Neo was still half-lying on the island counter, overcome with bliss and relief from what she thought was Reaper's safe return. The scythe girl stood her up and looked at her with a seriousness in her silver eyes.

"You need to get out of here." She told her. Neo gave puzzled look in return. "Look, I didn't really get away. I made a decision." She held up the drive. "Everything the police and huntsmen need to take this whole operation down." Neo's face turned to one of shock. "I made sure to delete everything pertaining to you out. There's no evidence you were ever here. So forget Torchwick, forget me, and get out before they raid this place. Please."

Neo was still working through the shock of Reaper betraying them when she realized what the scythe girl had just said. Reaper may be betraying Roman, but she had just cleaned Neo from this place. Reaper was giving Neo a heads up, an out, a chance to stay free. The only question was why?

"Ozpin offered me something…" Reaper explained, answering the question she could see in Neo's eyes. "I couldn't refuse it. I'm sorry, Neo. This is all coming down. But you don't have to be here when it happens, you don't have to get caught up in it. I made sure of it."

What was she going to do? It sounded like it was too late to warn anyone else… She could always do as Reaper suggested and save her own skin. If it came down to it, she could likely free Torchwick again. Reaper didn't seem to have her scroll on her, but Neo still typed out a message and showed her the screen.

'Why warn me? Why save me from it?'

 _ **It's a good question.**_

"Because… You're the closest thing I've had to a friend down here. And if I'm being entirely honest with myself, maybe even something… more." Reaper looked Neo in the eye. "Roman can go to hell for all I care. But I'm through betraying friends. So please, Neo, get the hell out of here before the shit hits the fan."

Neo's options were stay and be arrested or leave and be free. It wasn't a difficult choice. With a small smile to her friend, she vanished in a flash of light. Reaper let out a sigh of relief.

 _ **Remind me, did we ever learn what Stockholm Syndrome was called for stalkers?**_

"Ember, just shut the hell up…"

 _ **I love you too, Reaper!**_

With a groan for the persistent annoyance that was the voice in her head, Reaper departed her criminal home for the last time.

Outside, Neo watched as Reaper gave Ozpin the drive and told him that Torchwick was falsely sent to Junior's club and should be picked up before he noticed something was amiss. She watched as the police forces stormed the caverns, the beginning of the end of the operation Roman so carefully constructed. Deciding it might be best to lay low for a while, Neo teleported away once more.

* * *

"How's Torchwick's trial going?" Reaper asked from behind her cell glass. She still had to stay here until her own trial was over, but her placement in Ozpin's Rehabilitative Custody was all but guaranteed by her part in taking Roman down. Ozpin, who had visited regularly since that day, was currently on the other side.

"We have more than enough evidence to convict him. Some of the money that should be in his accounts seems to be missing, but it's of little consequence. In fact, it's kept him from hiring a high class lawyer for his defense." The headmaster informed her with a knowing smile.

"How is it you always know _everything_?" Reaper asked, realizing he understood what happened to the money.

"It's my job, after all. I have quite a bit of experience here." Ozpin smiled.

 _ **Are we going to have to give it up?**_

"Am I going to have to return it?" Reaper asked.

"It was legitimate funds made in a legitimate transfer. Unfortunately, it's out of my hands." Ozpin told her.

"Unfortunately." Reaper repeated. They shared another humorous smile.

"I suppose I can't convince you to give it up on your own?" the headmaster ventured.

"Sorry, but we're not changing that much, that quickly. We saw the opportunity and we took it." Reaper shrugged.

"Do you notice you referring to yourself as a group entity from time to time? Using 'we's instead of 'I's and the like?" Ozpin asked.

 _ **You do that a lot now, you really do…**_

"Oh, now you tell me? And you've been doing it as long as you've existed!"

 _ **Yeah, but only you can hear me, so I'm not the one that sounds crazy. Also, you're speaking out loud again.**_

"Well guess what. I don't care anymore. I accept I'm crazy and everyone else knows it already as well." Reaper huffed and looked to Ozpin. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine. It's actually rather intriguing to watch." Ozpin stated

"Okay, that just sounds creepy. Like 'creepy uncle' creepy." Reaper told him.

"My apologies. There is another reason I am here today. Before you return, we need to have a serious discussion with your once and future team mates."

"Future?" Reaper saw Weiss and Blake enter the cell block.

"I wouldn't get ahead of ourselves." Weiss started in, cold as ever. "It's not a guarantee she's coming back yet. There are still some against it." It was clear to Reaper that Weiss was among those 'some'. Not that she could blame her.

 _ **We'll get her trust back too, eventually.**_

 _Hopefully._

"For what it's worth, at least one of us is glad you're finally trying to return, Ruby." Blake assured her.

Reaper sighed. "Ground rule, right now, I'm still not magically Ruby. Me coming back isn't me trying to be Ruby again. I'm still Reaper for the foreseeable future, and would much prefer to be referred to as such." Blake looked a little hurt, but nodded after a few seconds.

"I can't stop the teachers form calling you 'Ms. Rose'." Ozpin informed her.

"I can live with Ms. Rose, I guess… Reaper Rose…" the scythe girl lamented.

"Carrying on." Ozpin pushed the subject forward. "We need to talk about how you will operate within Beacon. As we all understand, even if Reaper is placed in Rehabilitative Custody, she is not a free woman. She will not be allowed to leave the school grounds without a chaperone, and she will not be allowed to reclaim her position as team leader."

"I figured as much." Reaper nodded.

"To keep your schooling smooth, I have set it so any adult with authority can be her chaperone." The headmaster continued. "That means Ms. Schnee, as team leader, can act as chaperone for missions and trips into Vale. This is mainly so you don't need a teacher to tag along for missions, since no other third years are burdened by chaperones."

"Wait, we're still going to be third years?" Weiss asked.

"As long as Reaper can study for and pass a specialized test I'm building." Ozpin explained.

Weiss locked onto Reaper with an icy gaze. She didn't want to get held back because of this arrangement. "We are going to make sure you can pass this thing, even if… if we have to study together."

"Wow… I was actually afraid you would turn me down if I asked." Reaper admitted.

"If that's what you would rather-" The heiress began quickly.

"No, no!" Blake stopped her girlfriend. "We'll get her ready, Professor Ozpin."

"If there is anything you want to discuss alone, I shall be waiting outside." Ozpin told them.

"Nothing comes to mind immediately." Weiss responded. "Let's go. Blake?"

"Actually… there is something I want to ask." Blake admitted.

Weiss sighed. She didn't want to stay in here. It was going to be something else to live with Reaper, but she didn't have to stay in here right now. "I'll be waiting outside with Ozpin."

Blake sat on the retractable visitor's chair. "Sorry about her. It's going to take her a while to adjust to this."

 _ **We did nearly kill her sister.**_

"I did put Winter into a coma for what, a month? Two?" Reaper admitted. "You're the one that's surprising me."

"What do you mean?" Blake asked.

"I thought you would have been a lot angrier too." The scythe girl explained. "It's probably not smart to put any amount of trust into someone who betrayed you like I did."

"Look me in the eyes and tell me, are you planning to do it again?" The cat girl asked her.

"Of course not, but-"

"Ahp ahp! That's all I needed to hear." Blake smiled.

Reaper stared at her incredulously. "I have experience in crazy, and let me tell you, you're crazy."

Blake chuckled. "Maybe so, but after everything that has happened, is it wrong to hope for a little light?"

Reaper smiled. "Thank you, Blake."

"Your welcome, Ru-…" Blake caught herself. "Reaper."

"I guess I'll see you soon?" she asked.

"Actually, there's one more thing I wanted to ask…" Blake looked unsure of herself. She hesitated, but it was something Reaper needed to think about if she was coming back. "What are you going to do about Velvet?"

"I, uhh… don't know." She admitted. "I know I have to talk to her at some point, but I'm still not entirely sure what I want as far as all that…"

"What could possibly keep you from that?" Blake asked. She was sure Reaper would want Velvet back in a heartbeat.

Reaper wasn't willing to admit it out loud, but for a second, an image of a pink haired mute flashed through her mind.

 _ **Again, Stockhol-**_

"Jesus, Ember, shut the fuck up!"

"Ember?" Blake asked her.

Reaper groaned. "The voice in my head, the one that fights for me. I call her Ember."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "What did she say?"

"Nothing important." The scythe girl said quickly. "I don't know what's holding me back. I just would need to talk to Velvet about that. Why hasn't she come to see me?"

"She's away on a mission. She doesn't even know we caught you yet, let alone all this." Reaper nodded at her 'once and future' team mates response.

Blake left soon after and again Reaper was alone with her thoughts and her voice. She knew what she wanted. She was determined. She would pass that test, she would regain Weiss's trust, and she would become a huntress again. A clinically insane huntress, sure, but a huntress nonetheless. And Velvet, well… she supposed she would cross that bridge when she got to it.

* * *

 **Whew, finally... I stress myself far too much over this stuff. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as i enjoyed writing it! Leave your feedback, and make sure you're following this story if you want to see Act 4. I think Act 4 may be the final act of Black Reaper, and hopefully it doesn't take me too long to write. Adieu for now!  
**


	24. Act 4: Ch 1

**A/N Some news. Due to a slight change in programming, there _will_ be an Act 5. Enjoy a helping of character drama for the next few chapters, plus a teeny bit of setup, and a few fights. Act 4 has 6 chapters.**

* * *

Act 4  
The Return Pt. 1 – Burying the Hatchets

Reaper stood on the steps of Beacon for the first time in what felt like a lifetime. The last time she stepped on campus as a huntress-in-training was almost a year ago.

 _ **Holy shit, it's only been a year? Feels like a lot more shit happened than one could reasonably fit into a year.**_

"A lot can happen in a year, I suppose…" Reaper spoke aloud.

"It has been rather eventful." Blake agreed. "Come to think of it, how on earth did Torchwick get such a large organization in such a short time?"

Reaper shrugged. "He's good at what he does. And the files I took from Ozpin's office during my 'visit' helped us absorb the Palette Mafia."

"If he was so good, how did manage to lose all his money so he couldn't get a decent lawyer for his trial?" Blake joked.

Reaper realized she hadn't yet told her old friends about her 'acquisition'. "Uhh… Yeah, about that-"

"Let's get on with this." Weiss cut off their conversation as she blew past them. "We still have to get started on your studies for that test."

Reaper sighed heavily and Blake patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, Reaper. She can't give you the cold shoulder forever. She'll trust you, eventually."

"Even so, forgiving us for Winter may never happen." Reaper lamented. "We better get after her before she gets any angrier."

Despite pretty much knowing she would make it, the day of Reaper's sentencing was one of the most nerve-racking days of her life. But just as everyone anticipated, the judge passed Ozpin's proposal for Rehabilitative Custody at that precious moment of truth. Reaper was also prescribed anti-psychotics after she was forced to explain Ember, but everyone knew it was a technicality and she wouldn't actually take them.

 _ **Thank you for that, by the way.**_

It was a strange feeling to actually be back here, stepping through the door to RWBY dorm, and actually be here to stay. "We _are_ getting you a bed this time, right?" Blake asked.

"Oh please, thank you, that couch has no lumbar support." Reaper told her. Blake smiled and Weiss just rolled her eyes.

They rearranged the den area to push Reaper's bed against the far wall. Reaper had a feeling Weiss wanted her as far away as possible from where she and Blake slept. She understood Weiss was uncomfortable with this whole situation, but frankly, it was starting to get ridiculous. Not that she could do anything about it, since Weiss was basically her warden.

 _ **At least she's not using her authority to completely discount us. If you really think about it, she is giving us a chance. Reluctantly.**_

 _Let's not make her aware of that fact._

 _ **Good idea.**_

"Alright," Weiss turned to Reaper, "a few things to get sorted. We don't know what your test will entail, so I'm going to go through my filed worksheets, and we're going to start by studying a bit of everything. Since Blake and I still have to attend classes, it only makes sense you should too."

 _ **Wait, does she seriously file away all her completed and graded worksheets?**_

"Yes, she does, I've actually seen the drawer before." Reaper answered.

Weiss stared at the scythe master. "Right, if you insist on refusing your medication and speaking to… Ember, was it? -Aloud, at least let us know her half of your conversation. Especially if it pertains to the matter at hand."

"Right, we'll try" Reaper nodded.

 _ **Oh! Oh! Ask her if she's this frigid in bed.**_

"That… does not 'pertain to the matter at hand' and in fact, I refuse to pass that question along."

 _ **Party-pooper.**_

* * *

Later that night it was dinner time for Beacon. Reaper was glad team CFVY was still on their mission, she still wasn't sure what she wanted to do about Velvet. As she stepped through the doors, Reaper immediately remembered there was one other group she still had to try and make amends to. The girls gathered their food and took their usual seats next to team JNPR and the scene quickly fell into an awkward silence.

To everyone's surprise, it was actually Jaune, the boy who had been terrified of the girl even before she was Reaper, who broke the silence. "So, we, uh… followed your trial closely. From our dorm TV."

Reaper quickly took the chance to end the awkward air, not just for the meal but between her and Jaune. "Yeah, I bet you were surprised when Ozpin pushed for custody."

"It was a bit out of the blue." Ren admitted. "But Ozpin seems to believe in you."

"Yes," Pyrrha picked up next, "if your return is true, then we are happy for you, Ruby."

Reaper and Ember groaned simultaneously. "That's still not my name…"

Pyrrha's eyes dropped to the table. "Oh. Right… you still go by Reaper."

"So what's the deal with your crazy voice? Ember?" Nora asked, blunt as ever and likely not realizing it.

 _ **I like her. She takes everything in stride.**_

"Well, she says she likes you because of how easily you go with the flow."

Nora's face lit with excitement. "Awesome! It's like having two new friends! I've never been friends with someone else's crazy voice! We should totally hang out!"

 _ **Is… is this girl insane too?**_

"That's under debate, Ember. And Nora, I'd love to hang out. I'm still in custody, so I'm confined to Beacon grounds unless Weiss agrees to go with to watch me. Sorry, no Vale trips."

"I could break you out." Nora shrugged.

"NO!" Weiss scolded her.

 _ **I really like Nora.**_

"Maybe we can all take Reaper into Vale one day. Our docket's a bit full for now, but I'm sure she would need a break from Beacon at some point." Blake suggested, looking to Weiss.

Weiss sighed. "We'll see."

Reaper gave Blake a silent thank you and the faunus smiled. Reaper appreciated Blake's effort to help bridge the gap she had created between herself and all her old friends.

As dinner finished and the two teams walked back to their dorms, many of the questions asked to Reaper were about Ember. The fact the Ember fights for her found its way into one of the answers as they got closer to the dorms.

"How exactly?" Ren asked.

"You remember how I used to lose control? I started calling it the Red Haze. I think, for some reason or another, Ember is tied to Yang's semblance. As she grew, she could eventually take over when I entered a Red Haze." Reaper explained.

"And she can control it? Keep you calm?" Jaune asked next. Reaper nodded. "So, wait, can she speak through you when this happens? Would it actually be possible for us to speak to her directly?"

"Actually, yes." The answer caught Weiss's attention.

"So if we wanted to, theoretically, induce a 'Red Haze' if you needed to fight, or if we wanted to speak to Ember, how angry do you need to get?" Weiss asked.

"Actually, pain can do it too. We have this knife." Reaper pulled the blade out the back of her belt. "I can stick myself in the shoulder if we need to get things done. Speaking of which, we still need to repair Brutal Thorn…"

"You've had a knife on you this whole time and didn't tell us!?" Weiss shouted.

"Yes, Weiss, we could have stabbed you in the back whenever we wanted…" Reaper told her dryly. "But we haven't yet! Surprise!" _Sigh_ "I honestly forgot about it until now. Sorry."

"Anything else we might need to know you have just 'forgotten to tell us'?" Weiss interrogated.

"Well… I may have… 'forcibly acquired' all of Torchwick's legitimate money when I went back for his files to give to Ozpin." Reaper confessed. "I mean, he couldn't afford a high end lawyer, so it was a good thing… in a way."

"Seriously!?" Jaune was stunned. "How much?"

"Umm…" Reaper pulled out her Beacon scroll, the one she left behind before, (her black one had been confiscated and never returned) and looked up the account she built. Everyone around her looked over her shoulder at the screen.

"Holy… that's more than I have in my trust fund…" Weiss commented. Jaune whistled.

"It's all legit funds, and I'm the only one that knows the password to the account. As far as the law in concerned, it's all mine." Reaper explained.

"So, just to be clear," Pyrrha started, "you were planning on returning to Beacon, doing a mission for Ozpin, and you still stole an entire fortune."

"From a criminal!" the scythe girl defended. "Hey, at least some of that was my own money I worked hard for."

"I like your style." Nora nodded.

"Please don't encourage her…" Weiss sighed.

 _ **Too late.**_

* * *

Reaper had a hard time falling asleep that night for some reason. As Weiss as Blake slumbered away, Reaper took a look at Brutal Thorn.

 _ **It looks like Adam missed any important moving parts.**_

"Yeah, he just hit the barrel. We still need to get into the weapon forge and make a new one."

 _ **Still far easier than if he had hit it anywhere else. We would practically have to rebuild it at that point.**_

"We gotta wait till after classes, since we're apparently attending those."

 _ **Oh god… Port… it's going to be soooo boring… hey, since they know about me now, we can talk in class, right?**_

 _Sigh…_ "We'll see, okay?"

Reaper set her weapon aside and sat back on her bed, trying to get back to sleep, or at least pinpoint her unease. No matter how hard she tried she just couldn't quiet her mind. Or Ember.

 _ **So JNPR took everything a lot better than we thought.**_

"Probably because of our trial, it did go well. Or maybe they're like Blake, letting hope direct their actions. I think the only reason we're having trouble with Weiss is because of Winter…"

 _ **One of the few things you regret. At least we didn't kill her.**_

"At least."

"Does Ember usually keep you up all night?" Weiss asked, making Reaper jump.

"Oh shit… sorry if we woke you…" Reaper told her.

"Maybe you should take your pills at night to fall asleep." Weiss scolded.

"I already tossed the bottle. Besides, it's not entirely her fault, she's just one part of my mind I can't quiet…"

Weiss sighed and walked over the den area, sitting on a seat facing Reaper. "Do you want to talk about it? To an actual person, I mean."

Reaper eyed the heiress with caution. "I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but… why do you care? I got the impression you hated us."

"I just don't want to get held back because you didn't get enough sleep to study properly." She replied quickly, though she stared at the wall rather than look the scythe master in the eyes.

Reaper smiled. "Well, the problem is I don't actually know. My brain is just in too much turmoil, and Ember not shutting up and letting me think _is_ started to become a larger problem."

 _ **Oh, fine, I'll shut up already. I know when I'm not wanted.**_

"That's debatable… Okay, Ember is being quiet now, hopefully I can nab this thing down."

"Well…" Weiss continued. "Close your eyes. Clear your mind, and then say the first thing that settles on your tongue."

Reaper did as Weiss directed. It worked, and she found her answer. It wasn't the answer she told Weiss. "Velvet." The scythe girl said quickly. It wasn't entirely a lie; she was worried about what she would do about the rabbit girl.

"I thought as much." The heiress said smugly. "You don't have to worry. She was one of the few that always believed you would come back. I'm sure she will be more than happy." With that, she got up and returned to Blake's side in their own bed.

Reaper lay down to settle as her mind lingered on the true answer, the one she kept hidden. Against all belief, she was worried about how Neo was doing right now.

 _ **You did officially become friends, like, two seconds before the last time you saw her.**_

 _I do hope she's doing alright wherever she is…_

* * *

Yatsuhashi pulled his massive blade from the fading corpse of a Grimm. The members of team CFVY let out a collective sigh of relief. Their mission had taken a little longer than anticipated, but they finally finished. It was still early, so they decided to call in the airship now. If they were lucky, they'd be back at Beacon before lunch. They didn't have to wait long, and were soon safely on-board and flying back to the school.

The rabbit girl pulled Ruby's cape around her and her thoughts drew back to her missing girlfriend. She was eager to return to Beacon and continue searching. Every time she saw her again, she grew more and more concerned for her mental stability. The very last time she had actually displayed a split personality. The memory also brought thoughts of that Neopolitan girl to her mind. She didn't like how Ruby interacted with Neo…

"You're thinking about _her_ again, aren't you Velv?" Coco asked. "You always get that look on your face."

"Coco, I know you don't approve of my quest, but you're not going to change my mind." Velvet told her.

Coco shook her head. "You need to move on, Velv… Even if Ruby comes back, she won't be your Ruby. She's too far gone."

"You don't know that." Velvet defended. "All she needs is help. I'm sure of it."

"Does she even want help?" Coco rebutted. "It doesn't sound like it. I get that you loved Ruby, more than anything. But there has to be a point where you accept Ruby is really gone, might as well be buried. And I think it passed a long time ago."

Velvet gripped the edges of the red cloak. She finally considered, just for a moment, that Coco may be right. She shook those thoughts from her head. "It's because I loved her that I can't give up on her. I made a promise…"

Coco shook her head again. Velvet was having a hard time with her grief, and it was getting out of hand. It probably didn't help that the girl formerly known as Ruby was still alive. Velvet refused to let go of her hope that _her_ Ruby could return. Coco was brought from her thoughts by Yatsuhashi's elbow. They had come within network range of the CCT tower and the big man had been looking over news from the last few days, as they were cut off from civilization.

Coco looked at the headline he pointed out and tore the scroll from his hand to look over the full article. Coco's eyes panned over her faunus team mate, who had returned to her thoughts and tuned out the world around her. Coco looked back to the device and read over the report detailing 'Reaper's' trial. The last thing she expected was for Ruby to willingly return to Beacon. Maybe Velvet wasn't wrong… this was going to turn into an interesting day…


	25. Act 4: Ch 2

As the next day wore on, Reaper found it nearly impossible to cast the concerns over her friend from the other life from her mind. Between classes she used Beacon's systems to search for any police records on Neo. Other than a few relatively minor warrants from years ago there was nothing. No active APB's, no petty arrests, not even so much as a concerned citizen's tip for anyone matching her unique description. As Port's class droned on and nearly put Reaper to sleep, her thoughts remained dominated by the strange pink creature.

 _I wonder if we can talk Ozpin into giving us back the black scroll. See if we can send her a message_

 _ **That is a terrible idea. Nothing will draw suspicion faster than asking after such a curious object from our other life.**_

 _Aren't you supposed to be the voice of my inner desires?_

 _ **I also occasionally stand in as the voice of reason, apparently. Or maybe we just 'desire' to stay out of real prison.**_

 _Well, maybe you can tell me why I can't stop worrying about whether she's alright or not._

 _ **Why wouldn't you be worried about a friend? She's out there, somewhere, alone and trying to survive.**_

 _That's not making me feel better._

 _ **Whether she found work and is doing alright or not, what are really the chances we are going to see her again?**_

Reaper groaned aloud and dropped the conversation. It was going nowhere fast, and only making her more upset. Thankfully, the bell rang soon and they were dismissed for lunch. _Maybe food can distract us from our turmoil._ Weiss noticed the troubled look on her face and assumed it was for the thoughts troubling her last night. The heiress was half right; it was the same thoughts from last night… just not the ones she knew about.

Blake saw this as well and smiled. Coco had messaged her earlier about their triumphant return, and she couldn't wait to see the looks on Velvet and Reaper's faces when they spotted each other in the cafeteria. Neither girl knew of the other's return to the school, and Blake and Coco assumed some kind of sparks were going to fly. Blake was betting on romance, while Coco reserved her skepticism and figured a crash and burn was imminent.

What neither girl expected (and soon realized they were dumb for not considering the possibility) was Reaper avoiding the confrontation altogether. When they stepped through the doors, she saw Velvet holding a casual conversation with Ren and turned right back around.

"Where are you going?" Weiss asked, grabbing her arm.

"I'm just not hungry right now… gunna go for a walk." Reaper told her.

"You can't run off on your own." Weiss scolded.

"Actually she can." Blake defended. She didn't want to force Reaper to talk to Velvet if she wasn't ready. "As long as she doesn't leave campus. She only needs a chaperone if she intends to leave school grounds."

Weiss knew her girlfriend was right, but still didn't like the idea. "How can we be sure she doesn't if no one is watching her?"

"I'm sure Ozpin has something to make sure. The headmaster may be forgiving, but he's not carelessly so." Blake pointed out. Weiss conceded and let Reaper go.

Velvet looked to the doors to see them close behind Weiss and Blake. She couldn't make out who just left, all she saw was a shadow. She turned back to Ren and the two resumed their conversation. Coco and Blake eyed each other with concern.

Reaper knew she couldn't leave campus, but campus was huge and she didn't need to leave to put good distance between her and the cafeteria. She found an out of the way corner on the other side of Beacon. Despite the park table here making it an excellent setting for hangouts, it seemed totally abandoned.

 _ **I guess the loner clique already has their own spot.**_

"Works for me, I'd rather be alone anyway." Reaper sat at the table and let her blender of a mind turn to 'liquefy' and churn her thoughts uncontrollably. _I was hoping Velvet would be gone for a few more days while I figured things out. And what's keeping me back? A girl I'm starting to borderline obsess about who I may never see again? God, I hope Neo is doing alright. At least she's not arrested or implicated in Torchwick's shit, we made sure of that. Still, how low do you have to lay in order to not be seen stealing a bag of chips to eat? Maybe she's just good._

 _ **It's not like she can turn invisible. Oh, wait.**_

 _Oh yeah…_

Reaper felt a presence join her and hoped to god it wasn't Velvet. _Though it probably is_. She looked up slowly and silver eyes met mismatched pink and brown. The scythe master exploded into a full upright sitting position as she registered who was here with her. Neo gave a small, sheepish wave.

"What the-!" Reaper stopped her shout, took a quick look around, and continued in more of a whisper. "What the hell are you doing here!?" Neo pulled out her scroll to show it was dead. "Mine was taken as evidence anyway, and I never got it back. Hold on." Reaper rifled through her bag and pulled out an unused notebook and pen. "Keep it, I've got others." She said as she handed the items over.

Neo smiled and started writing. 'I was lying low, but I wanted to see how you were doing.'

"I'm doing good here. Neo, you shouldn't be here. If you got caught… damn it, I sent you away so you could stay free." Reaper looked the multi-colored girl over and noted she looked far scruffier than usual. "Neo, you have been doing alright yourself, right?"

'I've been lying low.' Neo wrote again.

"But… you have been stealing food and eating and stuff right? Finding work, whatever?" Reaper continued.

Neo wrote the next line really slowly, as though she was hesitant to admit it. Her frown supported that theory. ' _Really_ low. I kind of didn't know what to do with myself without you or Roman… I don't do well on my own…' The small girl's stomach grumbled as if to prove her point.

Reaper looked over Neo once more and sighed. "Wait here. Don't be seen. I'll be right back." Neo was confused, but nodded, and the scythe girl sped off in a hail of rose petals.

Blake and Coco were using their scrolls to have a silent debate whether or not to tell Velvet about Reaper when the former noticed the girl in question's return. She was hard to miss, as even though she wore the Beacon uniform she still wore the massive hooded cape over it, just like Ruby used to with the red cloak Velvet now wore. "I thought you said you weren't hungry?" Weiss asked, oblivious to Blake's scheme to keep Velvet in the dark. The rabbit ears perked up when Velvet heard the voice that responded.

"I wasn't hungry, and then I got hungry. That's how the body works, Weiss." Reaper replied, quickly piling up a tray with a massive amount of food. Velvet turned and only saw petals floating to the ground.

Velvet rounded onto the rest of team RWBY. "Why didn't you tell me she was here!? What happened?"

"I assumed you knew? Her trial was big news because of Ozpin's groundbreaking proposition. I hear other kingdoms are already reexamining their young inmates and considering similar options." Weiss transitioned from informational to gossip-y smoothly. Blake and Coco allowed it to be left at that, rather than confess they purposefully left her in the dark to gauge the pair's reaction upon meeting again.

Reaper didn't know she outed herself to Velvet, after assuming her team would have told her. She didn't even consider the possibility as she rushed back outside and found the table again. She sat down with the food and saw Neo shimmer into existence next to a nearby tree. The multi-colored girl sat back down and quickly dug in. Reaper didn't know what Neo liked, so she got a bit of everything. She was going to have to get a full list if this was going to keep happening.

"There's no way I can talk you out of coming here again, is there?" Reaper asked. Neo smiled and shook her head. "Well, we gotta be careful about it. I don't want you getting caught over a stupid lunch. So only at this table, at lunch, when no one is around. Agreed?" Neo wore a serious face while she nodded to show she understood. The scythe master looked over her strange friend and smiled. She was glad Neo had found her, and her thoughts from last night finally began settling.

"How did you find me anyway?" Reaper asked after enough food had been eaten that Neo could dedicate time to writing.

'I followed your trial.' Neo wrote out. 'I knew you would be here after the custody thing passed.'

"That trial got a lot more attention than I thought it would…"

The bell for classes rang out and Reaper had to dash. Neo dissolved out of sight and took off for the trees. She was worried Reaper would completely push her away now that she was becoming a huntress again. It was nice to know they were still friends. _Friends. One step ever closer._ A smile grew on the Neo's face.

* * *

 _ **So… that was interesting… I really didn't think we would ever see her again.**_

 _Me neither._

 _ **What are we going to tell Weiss and Blake?**_

 _Nothing. They would only go after her._

 _ **And if they ask us about where we spend our lunches?**_

 _I don't know… I don't want to lie to them… but I want to keep Neo safe if I can…_

Goodwitch got the classes attention to begin the period. "Welcome, everyone. Ms. Rose, welcome back. As you all no doubt know, the Vytal Tournament is going to be held here once again. An attempt to erase unpleasant memories of the past. Just like last time, we will spend our sparring time from now on using official tournament rules. To start us off, would Ms. Rose and Ms. Valkyrie please come down?"

Everyone in class froze. The only students who watched the trial were those interested in politics or those close to Reaper somehow. A great many of the students in this class still didn't know of Ember, and Reaper hadn't actually stated that Ember fights for her in the broadcast part of the trial. "Ummm… Are you sure?" Reaper asked Goodwitch.

"Professor Ozpin had assured me you have found a way to control your sister's semblance." Goodwitch maintained her professionality. "Therefore, you are cleared to fight."

"Umm… he didn't tell you how, did he?" Reaper ventured.

"I had assumed you simply found a way to control your anger. Is this not so?" Goodwitch asked.

"Control my anger, hah, right…" Reaper said sarcastically. "I think we should have a talk before you let us fight. And besides, our weapon is broken at the moment. We were going to go to the forge after classes to repair it."

Glynda raised an eyebrow at Reaper referring to herself as more than one person, but let it slide for now. "Very well. Ms. Valkyrie, would like to choose your opponent?"

"Awww I wanted to fight Ember…" Nora lamented.

 _ **We will.**_

"She assures me you got the first dance, Nora." Reaper told her friend. Nora's face lit back up and she let Goodwitch decide her opponent.

Class sped by and Reaper soon found herself in Goodwitch's private office. The strict woman stared down Reaper as if it would telepathically insert the questions she wanted to ask in the young woman's mind. Finally, she spoke. "So what is so unique about your control method that warranted a private discussion?"

"Did you watch my trial?" Reaper asked. It would help speed this along if Goodwitch already knew about Ember.

"I did, in fact." Glynda replied.

"Well the other personality, Ember? She can take over when we go into a Red Haze. That's what we call it when I lose control. Best part is she can control it. Fight calmly with all the strength it provides. So, she fights for us now." Reaper explained.

Goodwitch took a moment to mull over this information. "I see… so that, I assume, is why you seem to be off your state prescribed medication?" She had noticed the young girl talking to herself throughout all of class. Reaper nodded. "Is there another way to draw 'Ember' out? I would like to speak to her."

"Anger and pain." The scythe girl answered, pulling out her knife. "We don't know how long she'll stay without a fight to cool the Red Haze. We haven't tried it yet. No time like the present. Ember, you think you can handle repairs?"

"Do you mean you intend to stab yourself to bring her out?" Goodwitch stared at the knife incredulously. Apparently 'Ember' answered the question posed to her affirmatively, because Glynda was now watching Reaper stab herself in the shoulder. When the blade was pulled out, the wound closed quickly, leaving a thin scar behind. Glynda could see it layered over a few other, older scars. The girl's eyes opened to reveal glowing red.

" **Hey, there. I'm Ember, I pilot this meat-boat sometimes.** " Ember held out their hand for a hand shake.

Glynda took it cautiously. "So I see… Ember, if I allowed you to fight in class, can you keep yourself from killing the other students?"

" **Absolutely!** " The girl assured. " **We're serious about this new leaf, this whole huntress thing. I've gotten to fight a few times already, and I can tell you for a fact that I can keep our head calm to the very end.** "

"I will not hesitate to restrain you if I think you are out of control." Goodwitch warned.

" **Understood, madam.** "

The meeting ended and Ember piloted her and Reaper out of the office.

 _Cool, think we're good to shift back?_

" **Sorry, Reaper. Too much energy flowing through our body. I'm not comfortable handing back control just yet.** "

 _I figured as much. By the way, you're talking to me out loud. Now who looks crazy?_

" **Still you, since it's your face.** "

' _Cept your eyes are red. Once they catch on, everyone will be able to tell whether we're Reaper or Ember._

" **Shut up.** "

 _I love you too!_

Ember rolled her eyes. She suddenly felt sympathetic for how well Reaper deals with her talking their ear off. She began to walk to the forge to craft the new barrel when a voice sounded behind them.

"Ruby!"

 _Shit._

" **Fuck.** "

Ember turned to see a very excited Velvet running up to greet 'Ruby'. Velvet's face shifted to worry when she saw the red eyes.

" **Sorry, hunny bunny.** _ **Reaper**_ **is not at the helm at this moment, and I really don't want to relay a conversation that should be between you two.** "

"Oh." Her face fell completely. She had read the article, and wasn't Ruby supposed to be taking medication for her split personality? "I take it you're 'Ember'?"

" **Right on the money, sweet heart. We gotta dash, fix our weapon. I assume I'm the last person you wanna hang around, so I'm just gunna awkwardly shimmy away.** "

"Fix your weapon? Why not just use Crescent Rose?" Velvet asked.

" **Because that's not our weapon. Too short for us now anyway, we grew a little in the past year.** " Ember finally found room to walk away when Velvet lacked a response.

 _That's not going to make things any better._

" **She seemed really uncomfortable at the thought of me. Think she expects us to take our meds?** "

 _Probably. You can fix Brutal Thorn on your own, right? I need to work on what I'm going to do with her._

" **Of course I can! Your skills are my skills, don't worry. I know exactly what I'm doing.** "


	26. Act 4: Ch 3

Ember figured out she could let her strength loose by banging out metal to form as she forged Brutal Thorn's new barrel. She spent the next half an hour aiding the Professor for Weapon Engineering hammer out a number of various parts for his students that didn't know how to build yet, to use to practice. He noticed the girl suddenly slump over and saw her eyes open silver.

"You got what you needed? You 'Reaper' again?" He asked over the sound of the forge.

"Yeah… exhausted now too… thanks for letting us hammer it out." Reaper replied.

"No problem. If you and Ember ever need to calm down again, I could always use more parts. Kids these days are morons. I kinda miss you in my class."

"We'll definitely think about it." Reaper then assembled Brutal Thorn using the new barrel and ran through its various mechanical functions, making sure everything was running smoothly. Satisfied for now, she returned to RWBY dorm.

Reaper was hoping to relax as she stepped through the door, but Weiss had made the study worksheets she wanted Reaper to run through and the scythe girl found herself trapped at the desk for the rest of the night.

"You know what I really miss right now, Ember…"

 _ **Of course I do, but I'll entertain you. What do you really miss right now, Reaper?**_

"I miss a period of time when I wasn't eternally glued to a smart-ass."

 _ **Hey! That's not what you were thinking before, you cheater. You miss our drink, is what you mean to say. I'm a pleasure to be stuck with, you're the killjoy.**_

Reaper sighed. She did miss her drink. She was sure she could focus at least twice, maybe even three times as well if she had a glass to unwind her tensions. Said tensions weren't helped when she heard a knock at the door. Weiss opened it enough to talk to the visitor. "Hello, Velvet."

"Hello, Weiss. Can I speak to Ruby?" Velvet asked the heiress. Weiss looked to Blake and Blake looked to Reaper, who shook her head.

"Sorry," Weiss answered, "she's got a lot to do to pass a test Ozpin is setting, so team RWBY can go on without being held back for her absence."

"Oh…" Velvet responded. Reaper could hear the defeat in her old girlfriend's voice.

Weiss closed the door and turned to team RWBY's previous leader. "You really need to talk to her at some point. You can't avoid her forever. And I still don't even see what the problem is. I figured you two would be all over each other by now."

"Once upon a time, I thought so too." Reaper admitted.

"Then what changed?" Blake asked.

Reaper looked to her team mates. "You really don't know? Me. I've changed, a lot. I have a lot to think about before I pursue a relationship with Velvet again… or even _if_ I do."

Weiss and Blake's surprise was apparent. With how much Velvet obsessed over getting Ruby back, they figured that the 'rehabilitative custody' would give Velvet the perfect chance. They hadn't thought about whether Reaper would consider officially ending things.

The night carried on, and the girls eventually settled for bed. Reaper's emotions may be in turmoil, but the night sky was calm and clear. The broken moon cast a lively glow on the Beacon grounds. The night was even bright enough that, if one were to squint at the rooftops of the closest buildings to the Beacon/Vale boarder, they might see a figure standing atop them.

From afar, and even up close, the near eight foot tall figure may have looked like a monster straight from classic literature. The figure had wrapped itself in layers of bandages, with a heavy patchwork coat that swept the ground. Heavy jeans tucked into heavy boots, and one might surmise he was a monster pulled straight from classic literature if only for the strength necessary to move around in those rags. He had a hood pulled low that, even in this bright night, shrouded his face in darkness.

The Creature. That's what it was called by the few who have seen it. It was a name he adopted willingly. This Creature's name was easy to deduce, but his purpose? Even the rumors didn't know. But it did have a purpose, one he thought on as he gazed at Beacon.

"Beeeaac-c-cooonn." A much underused throat pushed out the word carefully. The voice it created was scratchy and hoarse. _She_ was here. The news had said so. The woman who caused him unending pain. A single eye gleamed with hatred from the otherwise impenetrable shadow his hood created.

"Rrrah… Rrrrrraah… Rah, Rah R-Reaaapah-eerrr…"

* * *

Reaper woke and once more found her thoughts dominated by her small, criminal friend. _I hope she's there today._

"What's with the smile?" Blake asked her.

 _Crap… ummm…_ "I just feel like today might be a good day." She said truthfully.

"Going to finally talk to Velvet?" Blake guessed.

Thoughts of the rabbit girl crashed through her mind. _Crap. Neo showed up and I've completely forgotten to think about that…_ Reaper spent the rest of the day until lunch doing everything she could to avoid her old girlfriend, such as skipping breakfast and using her semblance to get between classes. She managed to get her massive tray of lunch and slip out the back of the cafeteria without Velvet seeing her. _What's wrong with me… big, bad Reaper, reduced to a nervous schoolgirl by one rabbit. Well… I am a 17 year old schoolgirl… but that doesn't excuse my behavior._

She rounded the corner and found the table empty. Sitting down with her double-meal she had piled for herself and her hopeful guest, Reaper watched the trees. Neo shimmered into view soon after and took her seat. The two enjoyed their silence together.

 _ **You know… we might not be able to leave, but someone might be able to smuggle the vodka we need for our drink onto campus for us. Whoever might have the time and ability I wonder?**_

Reaper silently thanked Ember. "Hey, Neo, I want to ask you something." Neo looked up from her plate. "If I gave you some Lien to use, would you spend some of it on a bottle of vodka for me? I miss my drink, and I can't leave campus to get it myself." Neo eagerly accepted. Reaper fished a couple hundred Lien and handed them over. Neo checked the time and began writing in her notebook.

'If I leave now, I might make it back before your lunch break is over. If you want.' Was the message she eventually showed Reaper.

Reaper laughed. "I'm not a crack addict, I don't need it _right now_. It's not a gopher job, it's not a rush job, not any kind of 'job'. Just a favor for a friend."

'A well-paying favor.' Neo wrote out and returned to her meal.

Reaper smiled. A favor for a friend. Two lunches in and she was already looking forward to this as a daily occurrence. She was happy to be able to have lunch with Neo. It didn't take the scythe wielder long to determine why.

Everyone may accept her decision to stay Reaper, but they didn't really accept 'Reaper' itself. Velvet was the bluntest about it, but she could tell everyone held out hope she would return to Ruby. JNPR, Ozpin, Blake, even the icy heiress all wished to have back the sweet girl they remember. Everyone did this, everyone… everyone except the small ice cream girl sitting across from her.

Neo truly accepted 'Reaper', even cherished the persona. Out here, at this lunch table, she was truly free from judgment, and she didn't have to be alone to do it. Out here, with Neo, Reaper could be Reaper, and that's the way her friend liked it.

* * *

"Ms. Rose, are you ready to participate today?" Glynda asked. Reaper nodded. "Then, Ms. Valkyrie, I assume there's no point trying to pair her with anyone else?"

"I was promised the first dance!" Nora shouted, excited to fight Ember.

Goodwitch looked to Reaper and nodded. Reaper took up Brutal Thorn in one hand and her knife in the other.

"Given the strength levels I assume Ember displays, I am reinstating the rule that your opponent only needs to take half of your aura to keep things level." Goodwitch informed the scythe wielder.

 _ **Again? I guess it's only fair…**_

Reaper made sure her aura was down when she stuck herself and focused on the pain. Ember pulled the knife out of their shoulder and opened her red eyes. She turned to Nora. " **Good to finally meet you face to face, thunder kiss.** "

Nora's eyes lit up. "Ember! Get ready, cuz I am so gunna whup your butt!"

Ember unfolded Brutal Thorn. " **Come try me.** "

The timer ticked down, and on the ringer Ember fired an air round behind her and propelled herself to her target. Brutal Thorn swung, Nora brought the pommel of Magnhild around to knock the scythe blade off its intended path. The hammer head came up and sent Ember into a small flip that _would_ have ended on her head, if Nora didn't swing her hammer around once more. Ember felt the object hit the small of her back, and could tell her opponent pulled Magnhild's trigger on impact. The explosion propelled her across the room.

She buried the head of Brutal Thorn into the ground to slow herself and land on her feet. She looked up to see Nora jumping after her, intent on bringing the hammer down on her head. Ember pulled her scythe out and pointed it barrel-down. Cartwheeling to plant her feet on the blade, she was able to pull the trigger and launch herself into a backflip over the pink terrors impending attack. Nora's hammer hit the ground where Ember used to be and without having proper footing, the girl was easily sent across the arena by Ember's mid-flip counter swing.

Nora took it in stride, rolling onto her feet and coming up on one knee with Magnhild's grenade launcher form in her hands. She sent three projectiles Ember's way, and the scythe master spun her weapon through the air, slicing two of the grenades in half. She managed to catch the third one without setting it off. Ember smiled and hung the grenade off her belt, trading it for a Burn rifle round. Nora stood on her hammer head and launched herself towards herself toward her opponent and high speed.

Brutal Thorn had a specialized feature Crescent Rose never possessed. The bolt-action lever not only allowed both clip-loading and manual top-loading, but the piece was meticulously crafting to allow top loading even if there was already a full magazine. It only jammed twice and exploded once before Reaper perfected the device. Using the speed semblance, Ember top-loaded the burn round on top of her Air Dust magazine and still had time to avoid Nora's approach.

She ducked under Magnhild's horizontal swing and twirled around behind Nora. The JNPR girl turned quickly, expecting to see Brutal Thorn coming at her. She watched the blade swing down and miss her by inches, the handle of the black weapon landing on her hammer instead. Ember grabbed onto the top of Nora's head and used it as leverage to flip over the girl, using her scythe blade as a hook to catch Magnhild. Ember landed behind Nora and swung Brutal Thorn down in front of her, ripping the hammer from her opponent's hands.

Properly disarmed, Nora had to turn once more to face Ember. As green eyes found red yet again, the hammer wielder felt something get shoved down the front of her shirt. Ember smirked and gave a swift kick to her midsection, sending her onto her back across the arena. Nora sat up with her hands and looked down to see two hearts… the one that served as an aesthetic opening in her shirt, and the one she used to design her grenades.

Nora's eyes widened in realization and the girl looked up to see Ember wink down the sights of Brutal Thorn's sniper mode. The sniper pulled the trigger, sending the Burn round into the grenade she had shoved between the pink terror's breasts.

"WHOOOOHOOHOOHOOOOOO!" Nora shouted, sounding gleeful as she tumbled through the air, end over end, all the way outside the bounds of the combat ring. The buzzer to end the match sounded.

"And that's the round." Goodwitch announced. "Ember is declared the victor. Nora Valkyrie is eliminated via ring-out." Goodwitch looked to Ember. "Good job keeping control, Ember. I'm honestly impressed." Ember smiled and nodded, walking away to check on Nora.

The JNPR girl was covered in soot against the far wall of the classroom. She shot up and saw Ember approaching. "That… was… awesome! Can we go again!?"

" **I could flick you and you would fall into red.** " Ember told her, pointing to the screen showing Nora at 16 aura points. " **I don't think Goodwitch would allow it.** "

"Of course not _right now_ , silly…" Nora said.

" **Sorry, thunder kiss. Can't let you monopolize all my fight time.** " Ember shrugged.

"Awww…" Nora jumped to her feet and shook the black dust off. "We will fight again." Nora promised, and smiled to her team. "That fight was awesome! Did you see her shove one my _own_ grenades down my boobs!"

"That was an… interesting tactic." Weiss said as her and Blake joined them. "Are you still Ember?"

" **One and only, ice queen. Nice to see you again, kitty kat.** "

"Are you going to give everyone offensive nicknames?" Blake asked, clearly annoyed at what Ember called her.

 _Yes._

" **Probably.** " Ember answered.

"Do my team, do my team!" Nora shouted. Ember looked over team JNPR.

She pointed to Jaune, " **Vomit boy's easy.** " She pointed at Pyrrha next, " **Golden idol.** " Then to Nora, " **Already calling you thunder kiss, I'll just stick with that.** " Then she looked to Ren. The two stared at each other for a moment. " **Y'know, you're really quiet… I actually don't know that much about you to give you a fitting name…** "

"Awww poor Rennie." Nora lamented.

"Yes, poor me." Ren stated sarcastically.

"Those two seem to be hitting it off." Pyrrha pointed out.

"Unfortunately." Weiss agreed.

" **Wait… your calm… quiet… mayyybeee… sloth ninja?** " Ember turned to Nora for confirmation.

 _Gaasssssp_ "It's perfect…" Nora squeaked with glee. Ren rolled his eyes.

" **Alright controlling this meat-boat exhausts me. I'll speak to you guys another time.** " Ember closed her red eyes and Reaper soon opened her silver ones.

"Sorry about her. You see what I have to deal with 24/7?" Reaper told them.

 _ **Oh shut it, I'm a pleasure to be around, just ask Nora!**_

"Nora's crazy too, I don't think she counts."

"Hey!" Nora shouted.

"Girls!" Goodwitch shouted. "If Ms. Valkyrie is in perfect working condition, I suggest you re-take your seats for the duration of class."


	27. Act 4: Ch 4

Reaper's fourth day back was her third day having lunch with Neo. The scythe master found herself smiling again as the illusionist shimmered into view from the trees and sat down. She set a bottle on the table as well, a rather large one wrapped up in brown paper. Reaper thanked her friend and the two settled into their meal. Every now and then words, both spoken and written, were traded, but for the most part they ate in silence. They enjoyed the quiet, though, and because of it, it was easy for them to hear Velvet.

"Ruby!? Ruby, where are you…"

"Damn her faunus senses…" Reaper cursed. The former criminal looked her friend in her mismatched eyes and silently urged her to hide. Velvet turned the corner to see the scythe master sitting alone.

"Ruby! Finally! I haven't been able to talk to you for days… What are you doing out here?"

"Taking lunch alone. Is it wrong to need some time to myself?" Reaper tried diverted attention away from her true activity.

Blake wanted to cuss Reaper out, but knew that would reveal her presence. She and Coco snuck out after Velvet, Blake having convinced her to look for Reaper. Blake was still hoping to see sparks fly, romance play out in front of her instead of on a page. Coco still thought it would go the complete other direction, and wanted to be there for Velvet if she had to be.

"I suppose not, but… Ruby, have you been avoiding me?" Velvet asked.

Reaper looked over the rabbit girl. Finally face to face with her old girlfriend, Reaper realized how foolish she had been. She was pushing this away, telling herself she would think about this, but it took actually seeing the emotions behind Velvet's eyes to know what to do. Reaper stood slowly and approached the faunus. Blake almost squeeled with joy when Reaper kissed Velvet.

To Velvet, though, the kiss felt different, wrong somehow…"Ruby…?"

"Velvet, that's not my name." Reaper told her as she took a step back.

"But… you told me you loved me…" Velvet grieved.

"And I do love you. But you don't love me, Velv. Not the me I am now. The girl you love is a memory. I can never be her again."

Velvet's eyes began to tear up. She afraid of the direction of the conversation. "That's not true… you just need help, let me help you."

Reaper shook her head. "Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. Even if I tried, I can never be 'Ruby' again. Too much has happened. Scars that run deeper than the eye can see _._ I've gone through so many changes, and I'm not going to change again any time soon. Not even for you."

Velvet dropped her gaze. "But you still love me?"

"I do…"

Velvet brushed her face clean and took a deep breath. "Okay… Reaper… I suppose I can try…"

Reaper stepped back to Velvet and took the girls shoulders, drawing the rabbit's eyes to her own. "You're not listening… Velvet, I'm not asking you to learn to love the new me. I'm asking you to move on."

Velvet stared at Reaper, unsure how to feel. "How can you kiss me like that and then asked me to 'move on'?"

Reaper shrugged. "I'm selfish? Stealing one last kiss. Sounds like me to me."

"Why!?" Velvet's tears turned to frustration. She struggled for this girl, why was she pushing her away?

"Why wouldn't I want to kiss the girl I love? But what I don't want is a relationship where you're constantly trying to change me back into the girl you loved. She's gone, dead, buried, and it's long past time you finally accept that." Reaper walked back to the table to pick up her bottle, and walked away.

 _ **Damn…**_

"Don't you dare start in with me, Ember. I'm not in the mood."

 _ **There are some lines even I don't cross. But just… damn…**_

"Reaper!" Blake called out.

The scythe girl turned to her team mate. "You were watching, weren't you? I'm sure you just heard me tell Ember, I'm not in the mood."

"No, I get it." Blake told her. "You didn't do what you wanted to do. You did what you had to do. I wanted to apologize."

"Apologize?"

"Yeah… I pushed her to find you. I figured she could help you get over whatever was holding you back. I still see you as Ruby more often than not, and… I didn't take into account, well, all the things you just told Velvet." Blake confessed.

Reaper thought for a moment. "Honestly, thank you for pushing her. I don't think I was ever going to enter that confrontation willingly, but I needed it to happen. She needed it to happen…"

Blake nodded and made her way back to Velvet, who was sitting on the ground with Coco patting her shoulder. "I warned you, Velv. Come on, let's get back to the dorm. You can let it out in peace." The leader told her friend.

Neo stuck close by, invisible, to watch the scene. After Reaper was left alone once more, she dared to venture out of the bushes. She wanted to be something to Reaper, and had for a while now. She knew that, but she didn't know how to act the role she craved. She racked her mind for any information from any source, and settled on a course of action. Reaper felt arms wrap around her middle and looked behind her to see Neo shimmer into view.

Reaper smiled. "It's funny… I knew you were short, but seeing you now, you don't even qualify as a cone. You're more like an ice cream cup." Neo jumped away from Reaper and glared at her angrily, her face flushing. The scythe girl laughed. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. Thank you, Neo. Thank you for accepting me as I am now." The bell rang out. "Gotta go. See you tomorrow."

* * *

Reaper slaved over the studies Weiss built. Some of this seemed a little extreme, but Reaper wasn't going to argue. At least she had her drink. Just like paperwork back at Torchwick's, it made the worksheets tolerable. She took another sip and circled a few more answers. She heard the door open and figured Weiss and Blake returned from their date. "Y'know I'm really glad you two got together." She told them. "You're cute together, like a chess set."

The two partners looked over each other's chosen outfit colors and realized for the first time (from a relationship viewpoint) that Weiss's entire wardrobe was white and Blake's was filled with nothing but black. "Huh." Blake noted.

 _ **Checkmate!**_

"Ember is now calling you two 'Checkmate'!" Reaper announced, returning to her work.

Weiss turned on Reaper to begin scolding and saw the glass in her hand. "What are you drinking?" She asked calmly instead.

Reaper looked at the liquid. "I actually never thought to ask its name. I only know how to make it."

Weiss walked up to take an experimental drink. Blake sniffed the air, and her eyes widened. "Uh, Weiss? maybe you shouldn't-"

The faunus was too late to warn her girlfriend as Weiss took a mouthful and immediately coughed it back into the glass. Reaper wasn't even mad at the spoiled drink, as she found the scene hilarious. "Not what you expected, princess?" She asked between bouts of laughter.

"How on earth do you get alcohol on campus!?" Weiss asked.

"Revealing your sources is a good way to lose them." Reaper countered.

"Where are you even hiding it?" Blake asked, looking around the room.

Reaper sighed. She knew now that the question was out there Weiss would tear the room apart looking for it and might as well just show her. She pulled on one of the front panels of the blocky desk she was working at and it swung open like a door, revealing a hidden mini-fridge. Inside was the vodka, other necessary ingredients (that she had stolen from the cafeteria kitchens), a bag of ice and a few spare glasses. Weiss looked from the hidden fridge to her girlfriend.

"How long were we gone?" she asked incredulously, picking up the vodka from the fridge.

"Hey! I'm good with my hands!" Reaper defended. "It only took me fifteen, twenty minutes tops, to convert this thing. You're not going to start confiscating it, are you?"

Weiss gave Reaper her signature cold glare. "I should, but I'm sure it would be a futile effort. Just don't get caught with it and get us all in trouble?"

"I'll assure anyone who finds out that you two don't know." Reaper promised.

A knock at the door attracted all their attentions. Blake opened the door just enough to see who it was. Reaper noted her stiffen. "Sun?"

"Hey, Blake… I know you wanted to wait, and I'm not trying to pressure you or anything, just… how much longer…?" He asked.

Blake didn't have an answer for him. With Reaper coming back and the drama between her and Velvet, the cat girl had completely forgotten to think about her own dilemma with Sun. "Umm… maybe you better come inside." _There's no time like the present to get this done._

Sun entered the room and Weiss quickly put the bottle away and slammed the hidden-fridge shut. He looked around the dorm and saw there were only two beds. "Does Ruby sleep on the couch?"

Reaper shifted uneasily for two reasons. One, she could see the way this was going to go, and two… "That's not my name." She said as an automatic reaction.

"Right, Reaper, sorry. By any name, it's good to have you back." Sun assured. He turned back to Blake. "So…?"

"Sun, I'm sorry. I've been trying to figure out how to say this nicely, but I… I'm with someone else now." Blake told him.

He looked between Blake and Weiss, who had stepped close. "Oh."

"I'm sorry, Sun." She said again.

"It's fine. If she makes you happy, I'm happy for you." He said. Reaper and Blake had picked up how to read people from their respective criminal careers, and could tell he was anything but fine. Even after having waited for so long, it seemed he thought this was going another direction. But with nothing else to say, Sun simply let himself out, and the girls simply let him.

Reaper tossed the contents of the ruined drink out the window and opened the hidden fridge back up. Grabbing a clean glass, she set about making two drinks. She handed the fresh glass to Blake. "You look like you could use this." Blake was hesitant. "Just one to relax you, I'm not going to get you drunk." The cat girl nodded and accepted the glass.

Reaper raised her own drink. "What a day for broken hearts, huh?"

"Yeah…" Blake _clinked_ the drinks together and they shared a moment for their respective exes.

"Where did you pick up how to make those?" Weiss asked. She wasn't going to join in, but she figured she could help by steering their thoughts away from 'broken hearts'.

 _ **Oh man that was a night to remember, and to forget.**_

"Neo showed me." Reaper answered. "Actually, the next morning was my first hangover. Never had more than two glasses a night since then."

Blake chuckled. "You learned quickly, then. Good for you." The shared a silence until Blake spoke again. "Do you regret it? Leaving I mean. Being… that."

Reaper expected this conversation much sooner. The 'are you still evil' talk. Not that she was ever evil, but she supposed no one was the villain in their own eyes. "There are things I regret here and there. I didn't miss Velvet's new scar when I saw her earlier. I regret not taking Ozpin's first offer, during my infiltration here. And Winter… But the life as a whole? I really don't. I don't want to return to it, don't get me wrong. But so much of it crafted who I am now, and I can't go back in time and change the choices I made. All I can do is try to make up for what I do regret." She looked to Weiss as she said the last sentence.

Blake nodded. "I regret not seeing the change in the White Fang sooner. I regret not stopping Adam before he could make those changes. But even after everything, I regret letting you kill him. The White Fang was once an organization of peace and progress. Despite what they became, I'm proud to be a part of that history."

"I'm sorry, Blake, but I don't regret killing him. I think it's fair you know that." Reaper informed her friend.

"I know, Reaper. Just know you're a huntress now. Not a criminal." Blake told her.

Reaper nodded. She and Ember already realized that meant they had to keep from killing. They just hoped it didn't turn out to be a difficult thing to keep from doing.

* * *

The Creature shambled through alleyways in the darkness of Vale. He had to find a way to get to Reaper. The woman dominated his mind as an obsession. The beast would refuse food and sleep, and simply ponder on how to get to Reaper. It was as if his utter hatred for the woman was the only sustenance he needed to survive, to move forward. Some days he would even forget why he hated her so much, only remembering that he did. But then the memory would come rushing back, fueling the fire behind his eye.

Another figure made its way into the alley. Next to the freakishly tall Creature, the newcomer, who was short by normal standards, may as well have been an ant. They looked at each other for some time, each waiting for the other react. If there was one thing they both understood, it was that no one took these paths if they wanted to be seen. They silently agreed to ignore each other and the kept on their separate paths. The pink and brown figure almost looked familiar to Creature, but she was no Reaper.

As the behemoth passed a rowdy back door, he ventured a look inside the establishment beyond it. It was a Hunter Bar. There was one or two of these in each kingdom, a place by and for huntsmen and huntresses. A place for them to rest, swap self-bragging stories, and pick up new missions. You couldn't even enter these places if you weren't a certified huntsmen or huntress. _Missions. Beacon. The students take missions. She'll have to take one, eventually. I can wait a little longer…_

"Rrhee… Rreeap-eeerrr…"

Neo stopped at the other end of the alley and turned. The large figure… did he say 'Reaper'? Was it her Reaper? Why would this thing be mentioning her Reaper? She had been all but a constant companion ever since 'Reaper' started, and she didn't recognize anything about this beast. She couldn't settle the uneasy feeling the Creature gave her

The man continued his shamble to nowhere, taking him away from Neo. "Beeeeeeee… Beeeeeacoonn…"

 _Beacon? Reaper? I don't like this at all…_


	28. Act 4: Ch 5

Reaper noted that Velvet and Coco were not sitting with the rest of the usual lunch group as she collected her and Neo's meal. Weiss wondered why the scythe girl retained her routine of not sitting with everyone else for lunch as she saw her slip out the door, but shook it from her mind. Reaper was impossible to read when she didn't want to be read, and Weiss didn't feel like chasing her down to ask.

After an entire week, Reaper had finally pinned down all of Neo's favorite foods from what was regularly available in the cafeteria. She saw her friends mismatched eyes light with excitement as she got to dig in to a hodgepodge of the best consumables. "So I was curious as to whether you had been working or not lately?" Reaper asked, making conversation. She waited a while so Neo could write before looking up from her food. Strangely, Neo hadn't written a response.

 _ **Is it just me, or does she seem on edge?**_

 _She does seem jittery…_

"Neo!" Reaper grabbed the multi-colored girl's attention. "Did you hear what I asked?" Apology passed behind Neo's eyes as she shook her head no. "I was wondering if you were finding jobs?"

The multi-colored girl took out her notebook and wrote, 'No, I haven't, actually. It's hard to ask for work without a voice… I told you I don't do well on my own…' Reaper frowned. She didn't like hearing her friend had fallen on hard times because of her decision. She didn't know at the time she took Torchwick down that Neo would have difficulty being on her own. Neo furiously jotted another response after seeing her friend's reaction. The writing was messy as it was written quickly.

'It's not your fault.'

"That's nice of you to say, Neo," Reaper replied, "but it is my fault. I took Torchwick down so I could be a huntress again. I told myself I wouldn't betray friends, but then I left you on your own. I didn't think I would ever see you again."

Neo didn't know how to respond. She wished there was some catch all message that would suddenly make everything alright. _Why does this stuff have to be so hard?_ As she pondered on what to do next, Neo heard a rustling in the bushes. Her attention turned immediately to the tree line, and she saw… a squirrel. Just a squirrel, picking berries off the thin branches.

Reaper turned her head and saw the squirrel as well.

 _ **I swear Neo jumped twice her height when she heard it.**_

"Not that that's a hard feat, but I get your point. Neo, is something wrong?" Reaper asked.

Neo turned back to Reaper and quickly shook her head no. She didn't want to worry the scythe wielder. For one, she could have misheard the raspy goliath in the alley and for two, she was worrying enough for both of them already. She worried enough for three people even, but then she supposed could always count Ember.

The bell rang soon after. Despite not being entirely convinced, Reaper couldn't press the issue. She took a couple hundred Lien out of her pocket and handed the money to Neo. The multi-colored girl shot a questioning gaze. "Oh crap, I forgot to tell you… Tomorrow is the weekend, and Blake organized it so a bunch of people are going into Vale, Weiss included so I can tag along. Then on Monday, we're leaving early for a mission, my first one since I got back. I won't be able to attend lunch until after we return from it."

 _So the money's so I won't miss meals while Reaper's away,_ Neo understood. With the last moments they had left, Neo wrote one more question. 'Where will your mission be?'

"Mountain Glenn. Standard Search and Destroy stuff, mainly to ease me back into the swing of things. I'll be safe Neo, don't worry. Just make sure you are too. Gottagocan'tbetardyseeyousoon!" Reaper shouted the last bit quickly as she trotted in the opposite direction.

 _Mountain Glenn…_ Neo came to a decision as she shimmered out of sight.

* * *

Reaper had spent weeks without leaving Beacon grounds before, but being confined there made it feel different. Now, it was almost as if she was breathing different air when she got a chance to walk Vale. Sure, she was surrounded by people who would willingly beat her down if she left their sights, but the only person who even half-expected her to run was Weiss.

 _ **I suppose that's one of the reasons why Ozzy picked her.**_

"Ozzy?" Reaper asked.

"Great. Now it seems Ember's given Ozpin a 'fun' nick name." Weiss vented. Blake had twisted her arm to get her to agree to this. 'I'll go, but I won't enjoy myself' were her exact words.

"I like it!" Nora yelled.

"Of course you do…" Jaune shook his head.

The people in attendance (' _ **Our Personal Guard**_ ' Ember called them) were Weiss, Blake and team JNPR. Despite technically still being friends, teams CFVY and SSSN weren't with them for obvious reasons. After knowing who would go with them, there was a question of what to do. Weiss suggested school shopping, and was quickly shot down. Laser Tag was a fast second, but vetoed by the heiress because she could easily lose sight of Reaper.

Then Blake told them the fair at the pier opened early since the Vytal Festival would have coincided with its originally planned time. A hop, skip and a jump later and the group joined the masses on the wooden planks overlooking the water. There was plenty to do here, and between the Schnee Heiress and the ex-criminal who made off like a bandit monetary issues were no issue at all.

"I should have anticipated the crowd." Weiss thought aloud.

"Well I'm sure glad we didn't pick the beach. I'm not changing into a swimsuit in front of someone else's girlfriend." Reaper said, bringing images of Weiss invading her changing room to 'keep an eye on her' to everyone's mind.

"At least that we can agree on…" Weiss responded, slightly flustered.

They spent the next few hours playing various games and going on a few rides. Jaune nearly vomited after the rollercoaster proved a little more intense than he first thought. Pyrrha won spectacularly at the ring toss game, amazing even the man who ran it. Reaper tried next, and although she failed, she did notice the rings were metal. She gave Pyrrha a wink that said, 'your secret is safe with me'. Nora wanted to use Magnhild on the 'test your strength' hammer game but the carny quickly talked her off of it. Using the normal hammer didn't stop her from breaking the machine, however, and the group watched as the bell arced through the air and into the ocean.

All this and then some equaled a fun, out-of-the-norm day for Reaper. The gang had split into various small groups near the end of the day, and Weiss and Blake were the only ones with Reaper when the scythe girl heard a voice she cursed herself for not expecting eventually.

"Guess you never know who you'll run into at the Vytal Festival."

 _Gruff, tipsy, and I can smell his flask from here._

 _ **How on earth did we forget all about him? Of course Ozpin would let him know we're back…**_

The party turned to see Qrow standing behind them in his signature scruff. "Last one had Atlas military, this year their letting a criminal walk freely."

"Not exactly freely." Reaper replied. "We got ourselves a warden." She gestured to Weiss.

"So I've heard."

Reaper was unsure how Qrow was feeling towards her. His words were angry, but if he wanted to fight he would have attacked by now. Then again, maybe he saw she was unarmed, as Weiss had forced her to leave Brutal Thorn behind. Qrow walked up to the scythe master slowly. When he got close his face changed into a smile and his hand came down on Reaper's hair and ruffled it.

"Hey Weiss, you and Blake should take a ride on the Ferris wheel." Qrow told her. "I hear it's all the romantic craze. I can keep an eye on your convict." Weiss and Blake traded glances and walked off toward the Ferris wheel. Qrow led Reaper to the end of the pier and sat on an unoccupied bench. Reaper sat down next to him.

"So," he started, "what are you calling yourself these days?"

"Reaper." The scythe girl answered.

"What about Ember?"

"She's being quiet. Neither of us are sure what to think about this… encounter."

"Me and Tai heard you were back for good this time, I had to check it out." Qrow chuckled. "Your dad's dug himself a hole. He got lost in his work when you vanished, and now your back and he can't get away from any of it long enough to drop by."

 _Is he still my dad, though?_ Reaper thought to herself.

"You can see Patch from here." Qrow pointed out. Indeed, the vast blue sea gave way at one spot for green, just before the horizon.

"I don't get it." Reaper vented. "How can everyone be so calm? So trusting? After what I did, what makes you think I won't do it again?"

"Will you do it again?" Qrow asked.

"No, but-"

"Then there you have it."

Reaper stared at the scruffy drunk incredulously. "I'm starting to think I'm the only sane person here, because at least I recognize my crazy. Everyone else? You are all just crazy…"

Qrow laughed. A lot. "Maybe so," he finally said, "But it's not as though your friends are all armed to _defend_ you. It's a fine line to try and walk in this situation. We have to be ready for you to flip at the drop of a hat, while at the same time showing you that we're trusting you not to. You're not in chains right now, are you? It could be worse. You have every opportunity to start trouble, and you don't. All that, plus pulling in Torckwick? You've earned a lot more trust than I think you realize."

The weight of Qrow's words settled on her mind. Had she already earned so much trust, simply by _not_ running away? It was true that she wasn't in cuffs. With so much open space, she could use her speed semblance right now and no one could catch her. But she wasn't going to. She wanted to serve her time, be a huntress. She was here to stay.

"See what I mean?" Qrow told her, seeing the gears turn in her mind.

"Thank you." Reaper smiled. After a few moments of silence the young girl found herself thinking of Patch as she gazed upon it on the horizon. "How… how is Taiyang doing?"

"Reaper." Qrow looked her in the eyes. "No matter your name or life, he is still your father. And he'll be a hell of a lot harder to talk down than your faunus girlfriend. You wanna know how he is? Give him a call and ask him."

Reaper pulled out her scroll and cycled through her contacts. Despite being a newer scroll, someone had arranged for his number to be on here. "Another time." Reaper said, putting it back away. "That's a call I should make alone."

"I won't rush you." Qrow promised. "Just don't put it off forever." He made Reaper promise. Reaper nodded.

 _ **Just when we thought all the awkward reunions were over…**_

 _But it's not so bad, becoming a huntress again. It's worth it._

* * *

Reaper wasn't going to put the call off forever. But that didn't stop her from putting it off long enough to have to do her mission first. Team RWBY walked to the airship to Mountain Glenn, and was met by Ozpin at the landing pad.

"Hello girls." He greeted them.

"Professor Ozpin." Weiss greeted formally.

"Reaper." Ozpin turned to the ex-criminal. "This is a momentous step. You will be armed and alone with your team mates for anywhere from a few days to a week. If you were anyone else, I likely wouldn't have cleared you for missions. I hope you understand how much trust I'm putting in your turnabout, trust some might say is as yet undeserved. Please, do not break it now."

"I don't plan to." Reaper promised.

 _ **Maybe the ice queen will finally start treating us like an equal after this.**_

 _One could hope, but I won't hold my breath._

The huntress trio boarded their flight and were on their way. As the airship flew over Vale, a tall figure looked up at it from the alleys.

"Reeapeerrr…" his voice was still hoarse, but words were starting to come easier. He followed the airship with his eye and began stalking off after it. _The time has come, and not a moment too soon. I can wait no longer._

The airship passed over the walls and Creature kept tracking its direction. It seemed to be heading the way of that large mountain. _Mountain Glenn_ … the name faded into his mind from a far memory. _A failed settlement of some kind_. Reaper was at the forefront of his mind, and pushed the rest of the information into oblivion before he could recall it. He only needed to know _where_ she was after all. Nothing else mattered.

For the huntresses, their mission area came into view. Reaper didn't miss Weiss keeping one hand on her weapon at all times, but at this point it was expected. She and Ember were aware that they were making slow progress, but it was just that. Slow. Reaper decided there was something that needed to be said. "Weiss, I want to make sure you know something."

"What?" She replied, as cold as ever.

"I get that you like to take 'keeping an eye on me' rather literally, but if you're constantly watching me in the field, then only half your attention at best is on the battle. So focus on fighting or focus on me, but don't try and do both. You'll only get hurt." Reaper told her. The scythe girl expected her leader to begin scolding her, but to her surprise the heiress simply nodded.

 _ **Slow progress is still progress.**_

The thought made Reaper smile.


	29. Act 4: Ch 6

The girls stalked the streets of the forgotten expansion carefully. Their mission was to suppress the sudden spike in Grimm activity and hopefully discover its source.

 _ **What are the chances it's another terrorist cell beneath the streets?**_

"What are the chances it's another terrorist cell beneath the streets?" Reaper passed Ember's comment along.

"I sincerely hope not." Weiss responded. "Last time that ended with Grimm inside Vale's walls."

 _ **Oh yeah.**_

"Good point." Reaper conceded.

Blake hushed the group at that moment and pointed toward a pack of Beowolves. "Isn't Vale the other direction?" She whispered.

"There must be powerful negative emotions to draw them _away_ from civilization." Weiss observed.

The trio took to the broken rooftops to follow the pack unseen. They didn't know how long they were going to have to follow, but they hoped the pack would lead them to a target. The beowolves appeared to be moving at speed, like moths to a flame. It took twenty minutes and almost losing the pack twice, but they finally arrived at a scene that was attracting the monsters.

A group of faunus lay slaughtered in the street, likely the original cause of the Grimm spike that called the huntresses out here. Standing over the fresh corpses was a man who could only be described as a monster himself, so wrapped in heavy bandages and heavy clothing that one couldn't see any distinguishing features, unless you count his height.

The huntresses watched from cover in the building they had come to a stop at as the Grimm circled the mysterious figure. He raised his left arm at the monsters and red blasts shot from the over-long sleeve of his coat. The beowolves faded before him, executed by rapid headshots. The girls could almost feel the negative energy that called the Grimm themselves. They watched the Creature's hood turn, the hidden face within scanning the field.

When his head suddenly turned upwards, the huntresses didn't have time to consider whether he knew they were there before his arm came up again and he fired straight at them. They jumped from the building seconds before the blast destroyed the room they were in. The huntresses used their various skills to land safely. Reaper cushioned her fall with her aura, allowing the impact to aggravate the Red Haze. Red eyes opened as Ember took control, ready for a fight.

The man lowered his arm and was surrounded by the three girls. He wasn't surrendering though, he was waiting. And as he waited, he stared at the scythe girl with all of his endless hatred. Within Ember, Reaper felt something strange, something familiar about this monster.

 _Why do I feel like I know you… where have we met…_

" **Screw that, let's just beat him down. It seems he's looking for a fight.** " Ember responded to Reaper's inner-inner dialogue.

Weiss made the first move. Using her ice, she attempted to freeze the man in place. He watched the icicles approach and moved faster than any of them thought possible in his outfit, actually running to get out of the way. Blake sped towards him next, jumping and swinging Gambol Shroud downward. The man turned and blocked the blade with his left arm, and the faunus noted that the impact didn't feel like flesh or aura. She sprung off one of her after-images to avoid the Creature's right fist and used the dust Weiss gave her to give it a Burn aspect. The explosion barely made him stumble.

Next it was Ember's turn, and the girl elected to open with her Buzzsaw Sprint. She rushed towards the Creature, and the Creature closed his right hand around the scythe's handle, stopping the black cyclone in its tracks. Ember and Reaper saw the flesh of his hand was horribly scarred. The Creature pulled Brutal Thorn and Ember along with it. She arced over her assailant and was smashed into the ground with enough force to crack the concrete. She bounced up, and was kicked further across the battlefield.

At the last moment before her soccer ball impersonation, Ember reached out and took a handful of the man's left sleeve. When she was sent away from him, it tore at the shoulder. His entire left arm was revealed to be a cybernetic replacement, and a bad one at that. Exposed wires were frayed and some were split entirely, causing visible electric discharges at times. The plate looked like battered crap, rough-forged and hastily hardened. And the entire forearm looked as though someone didn't quite know what they wanted and chose a bit of everything, ending in a cannon where the hand should be.

" **Even by black market standards, that is a _shit_ arm…** " Ember noted.

Ember got to her feet as Weiss launched an attack. The man's left forearm, for lack of a better term, opened. Parts shifted around, and like a twisted Atlas Army Knife the cannon was replaced by an extendable sword. He swung one way and knocked Myrtenaster off its aim. He swung the other way and launched Weiss across the battlefield.

 _This fight is going nowhere, fast. This guy just sent our entire mission tits up. We gotta get out of here._

" **I agree, but how do we run without this guy chasing us?** "

Blake charged and sent an after-image ahead of her, hoping to distract and disorient the man for her real attack. His right hand moved and he pushed it straight through the fake as if he somehow knew and his fingers closed around the real Blake's throat. He smashed the faunus into a wall, and then into the ground, before throwing her straight up. He cocked back his left arm, timing her fall back to him, and swung with all his strength.

If Blake had not used her acrobatic skills to correct her orientation in the air, the slice may have decapitated her. Instead, she was sent away from him with her head intact. Her left leg made considerable more distance from Creature than Blake herself did.

"Blake!" Weiss screamed her girlfriend's name, icy blue eyes locked on the fresh, bleeding stump.

The man shifted his left arm back into the cannon mode and took aim. No one had enough time to stop what happened next. He fired, and Blake watched as if in slow motion as the red wave was sent at her. Unready for oblivion, the faunus shut her eyes, hoping it would make the blast go away. She felt the heat soon after, but no pain. In fact, it felt to her as though the wave passed around her. _Is this what it feels like to die? Why do I still feel like me? Even the pain in my leg is still here…_

Blake opened her eyes slowly and saw a short figure with an umbrella that was open and pointed tip-first at the Creature. She was reminded of the day this girl used the same technique to block Yang's attack that was meant for Torchwick. _Neopolitan!? Did Neopolitan just save my life!?_

Weiss watched in disbelief as Neo appeared out of nowhere and blocked the attack meant for her girlfriend. She watched on and Neo folded her umbrella and made a rude face at the Creature, tugging one eyelid down and sticking her tongue out. He fired again, and Neo made no attempt to block or even move. Weiss was ready to rush in when Reaper took her around the middle and sped her away. Weiss watched as the blast hit the targeted pair, and they… shattered?

Reaper let Weiss down again in a building a few blocks over and the heiress turned to see Neo and Blake intact. Except for one obvious flaw in her girlfriend. Weiss used Myrtenaster and Freeze dust to patch the wound before it could bleed out. Once her girlfriend was taken care of, Weiss turned on the multi-colored criminal. "What are you doing here!?"

 _I'm wondering the same thing._

" **We're wondering the same thing.** "

Neo rolled her eyes. Of course, she saves the cat's life and gets an interrogation for a thank you.

" **Don't get us wrong, we are grateful you saved Blake's life, but coming out here isn't the smartest thing for you.** "

 _Why not?_ The small girl's face asked plainly. She turned her head to see Myrtenaster's tip inches from her face.

" **That's why.** " Ember sighed.

"Neopolitan." Weiss started. "I don't know how you didn't get caught up in Torchwick's downfall, but right now, under my authority as a huntress, I am placing you under arrest."

 _Well, it's not like I didn't see that coming…_ Neo huffed.

 _Ember, let me talk to Weiss._

" **Hey, what if the big guy finds us?** "

 _Then I'll stab myself if I have to, just let me talk to her._

" **Your funeral, and mine too, so be careful**."

Reaper shifted back to the helm of their mind and walked between Weiss and Neo, lowering Myrtenaster with her hand.

"Reaper, what are you doing?" Weiss asked.

"Please, Weiss. Don't arrest her. If anything, we need her help right now." Reaper begged.

"She is a criminal, and if you don't step out of the way, I _will_ arrest you too." The leader warned.

"Damn it, Weiss, don't make me do this…" the scythe girl pleaded.

"Do what?" The heiress's voice was full of suspicion.

"Don't make me choose!" Reaper's answer wasn't quite the one the huntresses expected.

"What do you mean, choose?" Blake asked.

Reaper sighed. "When I decided to come back, I made another decision. A promise. I promised myself I wouldn't betray my friends, ever again. Weiss, Blake, I don't know if I have to right to count you as friends, but I do. And Neo… Neo is my friend too. So please, don't make me choose."

"If you had to choose," Weiss asked, "what would be your decision?"

Reaper became flustered quickly. "Weiss, I-I can't… I don't know, I can't just _make_ that decision in an instant!"

"REAPER!"

The voice boomed from outside and the girls turned to see Creature fire at them. A flash of light later and they watched the old storefront they were in moments before explode from across the street. He screamed and fired again, without hesitation, onto their new position, and Neo had to teleport them further to get a rest. Reaper saw the exhaustion in her criminal friend, and felt herself get shoved back into Ember's usual spot in their mind.

Ember stalked up to Weiss and looked her dead in the eyes. " **If you won't even consider Reaper's words, consider mine! Holding for a moment the question of just how you plan to hold a** _ **teleporter**_ **long enough to get her into Vale, arresting Neo should not be more important to you than your** _ **girlfriend**_ **! Who, I shouldn't have to remind you, is** _ **heavily injured**_ **! Someone needs to carry her to the dropship, and that someone won't be able to fight while doing so! I don't know how that monster is finding us, but he is, and Neo can't teleport us all much longer. Me and her can fight while you carry Blake, and** _ **maybe**_ **we can all get out of this ALIVE!** "

As if to prove her point, Neo had to teleport them from another blast.

"REAPERRRR!"

" **Why does he keep screaming our name? Is it us he's after?** "

 _I knew he felt familiar, but from where? When did we meet? Just who the hell is he!?_

Weiss picked Blake up and turned to Ember and Neo. "Fine, you made your point. Let's get the hell out of here." Blake used a free hand to call in the airship and request a medic be on board.

The group of huntresses and misfits began to race away from the Creature. Neo and Ember did their best to block the attacks, and sometimes had to shift Weiss and Blake to keep them safe. Ember took a bad hit at one point, but her massive aura held… for now.

 _Ember, he is after_ us _. Everyone else is collateral._

" **You're right. Weiss, we have an idea!** "

"Of course you do!" She shouted. This whole ordeal was draining was what little goodwill she brought with her on this mission.

" **He's after us! After Reaper! We can draw him away, give you space to breathe and wait for the airship!** "

"And what will happen to you!? How will you get back!?" Weiss shouted.

Ember sifted through Reaper's memories of the train heist. " **Message us when the ship arrives! Don't message us for anything else, cuz I'm not gunna check my scroll! If I feel it buzz, I'm racing back!** "

The heiress knew she didn't have long to consider the plan. "Uugh, fine! But you damn well better come back!"

 _Neo will want to come with us._

" **Good catch. Neo! Stay with them! They might need help from Grimm!** "

Neo was obviously unpleased with Reaper going alone against Creature, but didn't make a fuss. She knew she would only lose if she tried to argue. Ember planted her feet and rushed toward Creature, clipping him with Brutal Thorn as she passed. Just as the scythe girl suspected, he began ignoring the others to focus on the ex-criminal. The group slowed down and did their best not to attract the creatures of darkness, Neo on edge to defend Reaper's friends if the need arose.

Ember led Creature on a goose chase through the streets. Without anyone to defend, she could focus on dodging, and with her speed he couldn't land a hit. Ember watched her foe carefully as she ran, and seized an opportunity. The man's guard dropped when his cannon jammed, and Ember used a lamppost and a wall to turn quickly and launch herself at the beast at full speed. Unfolding Brutal Thorn, she brought the blade to where his neck would be.

It made contact, and it felt like Ember just hit a vault door with an aluminum bat. The blade bounced off his still-intact neck, and the force of it all nearly broke the scythe girl's arms. Ember and Reaper actually witnessed Brutal Thorn's blade bend on impact. Creature countered by smashing her with his cannon arm, and she felt her aura hold by a thread.

 _What the holy hell was that about? What the_ fuck _just happened!?_

 _ **I don't know, but thank god he didn't have his blade out. I'm not sure we would have survived.**_

As if it purposefully waited for that last minute, Ember felt the scroll buzz in her pocket. Without hesitation, she picked up Brutal Thorn and ran.

"REAPER! REAPERR!"

The scythe girl didn't turn her semblance off until she was actually on the airship, nearly breaking a leg as she slammed against the wall opposite the door. The others were already inside and the ship took off. Ember slumped to the floor and retreated back into Reaper's mind. Weiss was holding Blake's hand, who was being worked on by a medic. Neo stood in the back, uncomfortable with being here and worried for Reaper.

The mute girl slowly approached the scythe master, who was beyond exhausted. "Hey, Neo… thanks for helping…" Reaper managed between heavy breaths. "Y'know… you might not be… too bad at this stuff…"

"Is our large friend still breathing?" Weiss asked.

"Yes, but… admittedly… not for a lack of trying…" Reaper pushed forward the still unfolded Brutal Thorn to show off the bent tip. "His neck did that."

"To one of _your_ weapons?" Blake asked incredulously. "How?"

"Fuck if I know!" Reaper vented.

After a few more moments of settling and calming their adrenaline, Weiss (predictably) rounded on Neo once more, who was sitting next to Reaper.

"Weiss…" Blake warned.

The heiress sighed and seemed to start struggling with her words. "Neopolitan… than-... thank you, for saving Blake's life."

"And arguably everyone else's." Blake added.

"Look," Weiss continued, looking down on the pint-sized criminal. "You're still a criminal, and I'm still a huntress. If you're still on this ship when we reach Beacon, I'll have to arrest you." Neo's face fell. There wasn't going to be a way she could get off the ship in flight. The heiress looked to her side at nothing in particular and continued. "On a _completely_ unrelated note, I do have to stop by… somewhere… in Vale. I'm just thinking aloud, so you probably shouldn't, I don't know, teleport away or anything…"

Neo couldn't believe her ears and smiled at Weiss. Weiss _humphed_ and sat back next to her girlfriend.

Reaper smiled as well. Neo was going to stay free after all, even if Weiss gave her the reward reluctantly. That was all there was to smile about at the moment, though. Blake's injury put the faunus's entire career on a thread. And beyond that, the seemingly invincible behemoth was still out there, and had a massive hate on for Reaper. _But why… who the hell is he…_

* * *

 **Hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! And to think, some of you thought Neo would vanish... honestly, you guys are the whole reason she's still around! But more on that another time... Don't be afraid to give feedback and remember to follow or favorite or what have you if you wanna see Act 5, which should be the final act (for real this time).  
**


	30. Act 5: Ch 1

**A/N Here we go. It's been an interesting ride for me, and I hope you guys enjoy the story. On a side note, I was playing with my pencils and papers and said 'fuck it'. If you want, you can jump over to Deviantart and look up my profile there (Vengfulfate as well) and see my attempts at concept work for the Reaper outfit and creature. Act 5 is 6 chapters.**

* * *

Act 5  
The Return Pt. 2 – Burying the Past

They landed in Vale and Weiss left the airship to do her 'something'. Reaper and Neo stepped off together. The multi-colored girl turned to her friend and smiled. "Thank you for helping us, Neo." Reaper responded with her own smile. "Stay safe, okay?" Neo nodded and pointed at Reaper. _You stay safe too._ "I will, I promise." Neo vanished in a flash of light and Reaper re-joined Blake on the ship. Weiss had already 'returned' and they took off again for Beacon.

Blake was immediately sent to the infirmary upon arrival. The doctor on staff went to work to ensure her wound wouldn't become infected for any reason but beyond that, there was nothing he could do for a missing leg that the medic on-board the airship hadn't already done. He certainly couldn't grow Blake a new one.

Reaper and Weiss were allowed to go to their team mate's bedside before too long. Weiss did her best to be a comforting presence. Reaper stood back, her eyes staring at the stump. Blake's left leg had been severed above the knee, only half of her thigh remained. The fact of the matter, the one Reaper couldn't ignore, is that Blake was hurt because of her. That _thing_ was there for the ex-criminal, had kept shouting her name.

Reaper walked up to the window. Night was falling, and Reaper could see her reflection. She had become a far more analytical person in the past year. It was necessary for her criminal career. Having a voice in her head to bounce her own ideas off herself sometimes came in handy, like now.

 _He kept shouting my name._

 _ **He kept shouting 'Reaper'. He never called you Ruby.**_

 _You're right… I had to have met him during the past year. But when? I think I would have remembered someone like that…_

 _ **You're sure you met him?**_

 _Absolutely. His vibe felt familiar, his aura…_

 _ **Do you think it was aura that stopped our blade?**_

 _No way. Aura wouldn't have bent Brutal Thorn._

"Reaper." Weiss called the scythe master over. "Who was that?"

"I don't know…" she admitted.

"He was after you!" Weiss shouted.

"Any number of people could be after me!" Reaper shouted back. "Crime isn't exactly a friendly community career choice!"

"He wasn't after Torchwick's organization." Blake pointed out. "There was too much emotion. He was after you specifically."

"I know, and there were plenty of people who might chase me, specifically, down. The problem is… I tended _not_ to leave those people alive…" Reaper confessed.

"Just how many people have you killed…?" Weiss asked, unsure she wanted to hear the answer.

Reaper took a deep breath. It was times like this she hated her resolution to try and be honest all the time. A resolution she already broke once or twice, only to keep Neo safe. "Quite a few ex-Fang I encountered for the first few months after my leaving… before Neo found me and we freed Torchwick. After that, there was an occasional rival to the gang that got out of hand. There was a girl who tried to kill us to keep her shop, a pair of stubborn brothers, a member of our own gang who set me off before I had Ember and-" Reaper stopped herself before she said 'Neo was out'. That conversation would turn interesting, all right. "And Adam…" Reaper covered her near fumble.

"How can you talk about them all so… casually?" Blake asked. Reaper couldn't tell if her voice was shocked or disgusted. _Probably both._

"It gets easier the more you do it. The first time was a Red Haze accident, and I threw up. Twice." Reaper saw the looks on her team mates faces. "Hey, there's a difference between enjoying killing and not letting it bother you when you do it." She told them angrily, her eyes shifting to red. "However I must sound right now, I don't go out of my way to end someone's life if I don't have to. It was the only option left sometimes. Other times, it just happened."

The looks of horror on their faces worsened. "What? You can't tell me you honestly haven't considered all this! Haven't thought about it! About me killing, about all the blood on my hands!" Their faces did change, but only a little. "I guess ignorance really is bliss." Reaper shot as she stormed from the infirmary. "Next time, don't ask questions you don't want the honest answers to!"

"Where are you going?" Weiss asked her.

"Where can I go!? I'm trapped here, remember!?" Reaper shook her head and sighed. "I'll be in the dorm. I need a drink anyway…" She left her team mates behind and strode quickly across campus. Her thoughts re-focus on the monster than nearly killed them all. She needed to remember who he was. She needed to find a way to stop him.

As she thought of him with hate, so did he think of her in the same way. In the darkness of midnight the Creature shambled into a decrepit apartment housing, one of many in Poor Town that are little more than squats where one could stay without paying.

 _She got away…_

His fist hit the table.

 _She got away._

His fist broke the table.

 _She got away!_

His arm shifted into blade form and sliced the dresser in half.

 _SHE GOT AWAY!_

The wardrobe was his next victim.

"Hey! Shut the fuck-!" _shlick_ "-up…?"

 _She got away…_

"Reaper…" the Creature pulled his blade from the man who had entered the room to complain about the noise. The lifeless form fell and the blood pooled around it. He had waited. He was ready. And she got away. Reaper got away. He had his chance, and she _fucking got away._ He was tired of waiting. He had to draw her out… Reaper dominated his mind as usual, his hatred clouding his rationality.

A scream drew his attention back to the fresh corpse on the floor. This newcomer obviously cared for who it used to be. Creature would have smiled if he could. He shuffled out of the apartment. He was tired of waiting. He would wait no longer. He had to draw Reaper to him. And he knew how. He knew what he was going to do.

* * *

Reaper woke the next morning with a slight headache. She had a few more than her usual 'drink or two'. She didn't get shit faced again, and she could still remember her night. A night she should have spent trying to figure out who that beast was she instead spent alone with her memories of Neo. It took longer than it did with the real girl, but she was able to calm the Red Haze before it could become a problem.

 _ **Well that was a thing…**_

"I guess Weiss spent the night with Blake. At least she didn't walk in on us doing 'that'. Last night was awkward enough already." Reaper responded, rubbing her head. She closed the curtains to shut out the light and the door opened behind her. Reaper turned around and saw Weiss. The heiress closed the door, looked up, turned bright red and threw her hand over her eyes.

"Ummm… Reaper? Do I want to know?" she asked. Reaper looked down.

 _I guess I don't remember everything from last night… what did we do with our shirt?_

 _ **I umm… wait, I think we threw it on the couch.**_

Reaper went over to retrieve it and decided to put the heiress at ease. This time, her imagination could probably come up with worse than the truth. "Don't worry I didn't invite anybody over. I was alone." She put her tank top on. "Alright, I'm PG."

Weiss lowered her hand. "I guess it could be worse, then…" she still didn't want to think of the ex-criminal doing anything like that, even alone. "What even brought that on?"

Reaper briefly considered being politely vague, but she still wasn't in the best of moods. "Orgasms help calm the Red Haze." Being blunt works just as well anyways.

"How did you even learn that…?" Weiss couldn't stop herself from asking. It was like an online video that was so disturbing one can't help but watch in horror.

"Trust me, you don't want to know." Reaper ended the conversation bluntly.

Weiss took the out that time, and moved on to what she came here to say. "Listen, I wanted to apologize."

"You mean Blake made you apologize." Reaper deduced. Weiss winced, proving her correct. "'We were just shocked to learn firsthand, we should have realized that stuff already', something along those lines?"

Weiss started to get frustrated. "What's wrong with you right now? You're not usually _this_ difficult."

"Maybe I'm just tired of trying to win back your approval, your trust, when you so _obviously_ would rather have someone like me in prison, and not even give me a chance!" Reaper shouted, making Weiss reel back. "Fuck! I'm sorry, I'm not angry at you… I'm frustrated with myself." The scythe master turned and leaned on the desk.

 _This conversation is a roller coaster,_ Weiss thought as her feelings changed to confused. "Why?"

"How many huntresses do you know with one leg? That guy was after me, she was just in his way… and I don't even care enough about the people I've killed to figure out who the hell he is!"

 _ **Starting to regret the life?**_

"No, Ember. I still don't regret the life. I regret not ripping his _fucking_ head off before he hurt my friend."

"I highly doubt Blake would want to be the reason why you start killing again." Weiss pointed out. "Besides, there's something you forgot to think about." Reaper turned back to Weiss. "She's girlfriends with the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. My father made the connections, I paid the money, and she's agreed to a replacement. Best of Atlas military cybernetics, top-of-the-line scout model. Lightweight alloys, perfect for stealth and agility. It should be here, along with a specialist to perform the operation, in a few days."

"Still doesn't change the fact she was hurt because of me… but at least it won't end her career…"

Weiss's scroll buzzed. "Ozpin wants to debrief." Reaper nodded and pulled on her jacket and cloak.

* * *

Blake was going to stay in the infirmary until she got her new leg, so they did an informal debrief around her bed. Weiss sat in the visitors chair next to her girlfriend's bed, Reaper leaned against the wall on Blake's other side, and Ozpin got a chair to sit in at the foot of the bed. They had to relive the encounter in detail. After the obvious questions regarding Reaper's history with their attacker (which she still didn't have answers for) the headmaster had one more for Weiss.

"Why did you decide to let Neopolitan go?"

Weiss's gaze dropped to the floor. "She did save our lives. Besides, we know she was involved with Torchwick, but there wasn't any mention of her in the evidence Reaper collected." Weiss stopped short, and the scythe girl cursed under her breath. She could _see_ the light bulb come on in the heiress's head.

"So even if we did arrest her, out word alone wouldn't convict her." Blake finished for her sidetracked girlfriend.

"I see…" Ozpin stood. "Given everything, Ms. Belladonna is obviously excused from class until she's back on her feet. You both are excused from classes for today as well." After he left, the two uninjured team members decided to grab lunch. Weiss promised Blake she would come back and stay with her, and Reaper promised herself to see if Neo would show up today.

As they proceeded through the halls, Weiss posed her question. "You made a promise not to betray friends anymore, correct?" Reaper nodded. "Did you make that promise _before_ or _after_ you got the files for Ozpin?"

"Before." Reaper told her, aware of the true question. Weiss nodded, aware of the true answer. Surprisingly, she left it at that.

After a few moments of silence, Weiss asked an unexpected question. "Reaper, what you said in the dorm… is that how you really feel?"

"What do you mean?" The scythe girl asked in return.

"About me not even trying to trust you?" Weiss clarified.

"I told you I was frustrated at myself when I yelled at you." Reaper replied quickly.

"That doesn't mean that you didn't mean what you said." Weiss countered.

The ex-criminal sighed. "I told you Weiss… Don't ask questions you don't want the honest answer to."

Weiss's face fell. "I'm sorry… I see you and I can't stop thinking of that night… Winter called me, to warn me. And you weren't in the dorm. I didn't want to believe it, but I found you outside with that girl… and then you told me it was true… you hurt my sister, nearly killed her. It's difficult to get past…"

"We weren't supposed to encounter living people on the raid. Hurting her is one of the things I _do_ regret." Reaper assured the heiress.

"I know."

They got their food at that time and went their separate ways. Reaper rushed to the table, which was thankfully still unoccupied. _Now we wait and see if Neo's here…_

 _ **I don't see why not.**_

 _Weiss did almost arrest her._

 _ **And she doesn't risk getting caught every time she comes for lunch anyways?**_

… _Good point_

Reaper smiled as she saw her multi-colored friend shimmer into view and sat down. Once again, she found it easy to relax, away from judgment, as she shared a silent meal with her mute companion. But the question of that man who attacked them ate at her mind, and she had to ask, "Neo, do you know anything about that man?"

Neo frowned, upset that their quiet time was interrupted by a negative topic. Regardless, the small girl fished her notebook out and wrote a response. 'There are rumors in Vale that refer to him as the Creature.'

The Creature. If she were to begin searching, she would have a name. That's good… "What were you doing in Mountain Glenn anyway?" She knew Neo was a little bit of a stalker, but following her into such a dangerous area is seemed extreme.

 _ **Oh, yeah, just a**_ **little** _ **bit of a stalker. Seriously Reaper?**_

 _Oh shut up…_

Neo finished writing her next reply as Reaper finished her volley with Ember. 'I saw Creature in Vale. Heard him mention you and Beacon. It worried me...'

"So the reason you were so jumpy at our last lunch?" The scythe girl asked, and Neo nodded. "I think if he was confident attacking Beacon, he would have by now…" Neo nodded again, in agreement. "Neo, I think I've met him before, I could swear he just has a… an air about him I've encountered before…" This time Neo responded with a confused stare. "So you don't get that feeling…" Neo shook her head 'no'. "How often were we actually apart working with Torchwick? Not often… I should have gotten this by now, I must be missing something obvious…"

The lunch bell rang then, and despite not attending classes for the day, Reaper figured if she spent too long with Neo Weiss would come looking for her. She watched her ice cream cup friend strut away and vanish from sight.

 _ **Ha. Ice cream cup.**_

Reaper smiled and made her way back to the dorm. Neo watched her, invisible, until she walked all the way out of sight, and smiled herself. She must be getting ever closer to her ultimate goal with the black clad girl. How they would maintain a relationship in their current situation, or what they would even do, was still unclear, but she didn't care. She knew what she wanted, and every other issue could wait its turn.

Neo walked about Vale aimlessly, unsure what to do with herself, but still happy. Happy enough to begin strutting aimlessly. She soon found herself wandering the alleys. The evidence may be gone, but she was still uncomfortable around police. She heard a noise behind her and turned on her heel, and what she saw made her eyes go wide.

Behind her, shambling from behind a dumpster, was absolutely, positively, the cutest kitten she had ever seen. She ran over and picked the softly mewing creature up in her arms. She now knew the first thing she wanted once she finally got Reaper. Adopt either this cutie, or another just as adorable.

"Reaper…"

Neo froze solid. She set the kitten down and tried to walk away without turning to the raspy voice. A scarred hand closed around her throat from behind and lifted her into the air. _I always wanted to be taller, but not like this! Oh, stupid crazy mute, now is not the time for jokes!_ She was turned to face her assailant, and found exactly who she was afraid to.

Creature knew he recognized the tiny girl the other night. When she came to the faunus's aid, he remembered. She was close to Reaper. Reaper would care for her. Like the woman in the apartment, Reaper would come for her. Neo struggled, unable to teleport without taking Creature with her regardless. Physical contact was a bitch like that. The beast smashed the small girl against a wall, and her vision went black.


	31. Act 5: Ch 2

The next day Reaper took her usual lunch spot, against Weiss's wishes. She managed to get away without revealing why she was so insistent to still eat 'alone'. Reaper sat with her double helping of food and waited… and waited… and waited… _Where is she? She usually appears just a moment after I sit down…_ Reaper checked her scroll and saw she had been waiting for ten minutes already. With a frown, she began to eat her half. If she didn't start soon, lunch would be over before she could finish. The bell rang and Neo hadn't showed.

 _She can't be here every day, I suppose… we'll just see her tomorrow._

For the rest of the day, Reaper's bleak mood was obvious to her friends. Those who were starting to feel comfortable around her again tried to see what was wrong. Reaper did her best to be vague and avoid answering without outright lying. Worries of the color coded criminal quickly became all she could think of as the night drew on. _Stop it, Reaper. She'll be there tomorrow…_

Except she wasn't. Or the next day. Or the day after.

"Okay, this is wrong… she should be here."

 _ **Maybe she found work? We can't be her whole life. She is still a criminal, technically.**_

"Have you met her? I think it's _very_ possible we're her whole life. Even if she found work, she wouldn't miss four lunches in a row."

"Who wouldn't?" Weiss asked, walking around the corner. Reaper jumped and Ember cursed in her mind.

"Someone we met out here, the day we ran from Velvet. They're uncomfortable around people, and we tend to have lunch together. Just the two of us. It's the only time I see them, and they haven't been here for four days." Reaper ran through the practiced line, hoping it was just informative and less-vague-than-usual enough to get by Weiss.

The problem was, Weiss was highly intelligent. Years of studying to be top of the class tended to do wonders for someone's brain. "It's Neopolitan, isn't it?" Reaper flinched, providing Weiss her answer. "I suspected you were somehow still in contact. Didn't think it would be like this, though."

"Please, Weiss, I know I haven't done anything to deserve such a favor, but-"

"'Don't arrest her, don't stop this, she's still my friend and this is the only time I get with her'?" Weiss interrupted. "I get it, Reaper, I do. I've been trying harder to understand how your life could have difficult for you as well, at Blake's insistence, and I get it. She hasn't been telling you details of her latest crimes, has she?"

"I'm not even sure she's still doing crime… Well, other than trespassing onto Beacon." Reaper told her leader.

"Then there's nothing I can do. If there's no evidence, how can I arrest somebody, right?" Reaper looked to the heiress in disbelief. "Reaper, what you said the other day… Believe or not, I am trying. You've done nothing to earn suspicion since you got back, and you've had plenty of opportunity. But like I said, it's harder for me. It's difficult to get past you nearly killing my one of my family, especially one so dear to me."

"I understand… and thank you, Weiss." Reaper smiled.

"Blake's getting her new leg tomorrow. If you want to see her first steps with it, you know where we'll be." The lunch bell rang and the two girls got up. Reaper passed another sad look at the tree line and followed her leader to the dorm.

* * *

Once they arrived, Reaper began her studying. Ozpin's promised test ever-lingered in the undetermined future. She had been back two weeks, and it still wasn't prepared. It put Weiss on edge almost as much as Reaper. Just how hard was it going to be? As the night approached Weiss left for the infirmary, leaving Reaper alone. With Blake's operation tomorrow, she was taking advantage of the fact it was the weekend to spend the night with her girlfriend. Reaper kicked open the hidden-fridge to make her drink and saw a very important ingredient missing.

"Ember, we didn't run out of vodka and just forget about it, right?"

 _ **I coulda sworn we still had half the bottle last night.**_

"Me too…" Reaper pulled out her scroll and dialed Weiss's number.

"Reaper?" Weiss picked up.

"Hey, Weiss, you have any idea what happened to my… um… special drink? The important part's missing, and I don't think anyone outside our dorm knows about it."

"I haven't touched it since that day. Maybe someone else found out?" the heiress suggested.

"We haven't been reported… someone must have taken it. Tell Blake I said hey."

"Will do." Reaper hung up and ventured across the hall. With a deep breath, she knocked the door to JNPR dorm.

"Hello?" Pyrrha answered. "Rub-, Reaper! What's going on?"

"Has any of you seen someone around my dorm? Something's missing." Reaper asked her.

"What is?" The golden fighter ventured.

"I'd rather not say if I don't have to…" the scythe master stated uneasily.

Lie Ren answered from inside. "I do believe I may have seen Sun with what you're looking for."

 _Of course, he must have seen it the day Blake talked to him._

Reaper looked inside to thank Ren before going to search for Sun. After nearly twenty minutes, she finally found him on the roof. He was lying on his back with his feet over the edge, trying to drink from the empty bottle. "Hey Ruby! Oh shit, Reaper! I mean Reaper!" He slurred when he saw her.

 _ **Maybe we should start wearing a nametag?**_

Reaper shook her head. "Sun, what are you doing with that?"

"I really, _really_ liked Blake… I coulda loved her, Ya Know? But she's happy with Weiss, and I'm happy for her… just not happy…" He vented.

"I don't see what any of that has to do with my-"

"Weiss stole my girl!" He yelled to world. "So I stole her vodka! Fair trade, huh?"

"Sun, that's _my_ vodka." Reaper deadpanned.

Sun looked to the bottle. "But Weiss was holding… ah shit… I'm sorry Ru- Reaper! I got it that time haha!"

The scythe master sighed and picked up the drunken monkey. "Let's get you back to your dorm."

She walked Sun all the way back to the dorm set up for the visiting students and found SSSN's room. Sun checked his pockets and realized he left his scroll inside. Reaper kicked the door only to hear an angry Neptune telling her to 'politely fuck off' and let him sleep. She tried once more and got an even less polite response. Sighing in defeat, she dragged Sun across campus to RWBY dorm, figuring he needed _somewhere_ safe to sleep. At least Blake wouldn't be there.

Setting the monkey boy on her bed, she considered calling Weiss and asking to sleep on her and Blake's bed.

 _ **Sun might appreciate it if Blake never found out he spent the night in here.**_

"Damn it, Ember…" Realizing her voice was right, she set herself up on the couch.

Dawn broke a few hours later and Sun woke with a groan. Reaper, having gotten no sleep, was ready to inform him of anything he forgot. He opened his eyes and saw where he was. "It wasn't a drunken dream, was it?" he asked.

"What do you remember?" the scythe girl asked.

"I remember I owe you a bottle of vodka." The monkey answered sheepishly.

"Damn straight. If you can get ready and get out before Weiss shows up, we can keep the sleepover our little secret." Reaper offered.

"That… would probably be best, thanks." Sun walked to the door.

"Hey." Reaper stopped him at the door. "If you're really that lonely… I'm sure Velvet could use a friend." Reaper wasn't sure what train of thought led her there, but that was one of the many thoughts that kept her up.

Sun was thoroughly confused. "What about you?" he asked.

"Hey, I have zero interest in man-meat, but Velv _is_ bi." The scythe master told him.

"No, I mean aren't you and her…?" He clarified.

"Oh… no, Velv is in love with Ruby."

"But you're… oh." Sun processed the information slowly and came to understanding. "Yikes, that must have been awkward."

"Like I said, she could use a friend." Reaper replied. "She deserves to be happy. You might have some competition with the memory of 'Ruby' but given how tightly she tried holding on, she might need help moving on anyway."

"Got it. Thanks, Ru-, uhh… Reaper. Got it that time." He smiled and left the dorm.

Reaper sat down at the desk and with no more distractions, she tried to finally get some studying done. When Weiss entered, she saw that all Reaper had done was absent mindedly draw an image of Neo on her worksheet.

"If you're that worried about her, maybe we can go looking soon." Weiss said to announce her presence.

Reaper looked down and, when she saw what she had done, flushed red. "Are you sure?" She asked the heiress.

"It's distracting you from your work, and asking you to forget about her temporarily obviously isn't going to work." Weiss explained.

 _ **That makes more sense.**_

"Thanks Weiss. Is it time for Blake?" The heiress nodded in response.

* * *

For the fifth day in a row, Neo woke to pain. The Creature didn't seem to be too bright, expecting Reaper to magically show up. When she didn't, he took his frustrations out on his hostage. _At least he's smart enough to keep me alive…_ Although without a voice, she couldn't point out his mistake and get out of this mess. Now that she was awake, she resumed her plan to struggle against her shackles when Creature wasn't looking. She figured that, eventually, her thin wrists could slip through and she could teleport out of here. Even if it meant greasing the chains with her own blood to do so.

She hated the limitation to her teleportation she so carefully kept secret, that Creature accidentally took advantage of. She couldn't leave something behind that was in physical contact with her, unless it was large like a building. If they were handcuffs around a pole or something it wouldn't be too bad, but the chains were bolted to the wall. Her semblance would travel up them take a chunk of the wall with her and she still wouldn't be able to move from wherever she landed.

She looked up and saw a rare sight, the beast with his hood down. The right side of his face as heavily scarred as his still-human hand, though the left side was the most interesting. More low-grade cybernetics replaced what used to be there, including an eye Neo had come to assume could read and track aura. It would explain how he kept finding them so easily in Mountain Glenn. It still didn't explain how his neck bent Reaper's blade, however…

"Reaper…" He growled. A mesh grating protected whatever was left of his mouth and the flatness where his nose used to be, muffling his voice slightly. He truly looked less-than-human, like a monster from a horror movie. _Which is to say, horrifically fugly,_ Neo mused to herself. He turned around and walked to the window. Neo began her struggles. Once he started watching for Reaper, he usually stood there for hours, occasionally interrupted by impatient anger followed by breaking another of Neo's ribs.

She knew she had to escape herself. She knew Reaper _would_ come for her, if the scythe master had any idea of any of this. A proper hostage taker would have made sure Reaper knew everything, but as Neo already figured, this man was less than intelligent and wholly and hatefully obsessed with Reaper. Neo knew she had to rely on herself, and carefully dug the chains into her wrists. She didn't mind the pain; she was driven by one thought. Living long enough to see her dear friend again.

 _I'll get back to you safely, Reaper. I promise. We'll have lunch, and I'll adopt that cat, and I'll live. I just have to get out of here…_

* * *

Blake's new leg was sleek, all black, and surprisingly lightweight. As she took her first steps, she wobbled slightly. "It's going to take some getting used to, but I think I can work with this." She said as wobbled to Weiss. "Thank you." She told her girlfriend with a kiss.

 _ **Checkmate!**_

"Checkmate." Reaper passed along.

"Way to ruin a moment, Ember…" Weiss vented.

 _ **I try my best.**_

"She tries her best."

Weiss and Blake rolled their eyes. "So, we're searching for Neo tomorrow?" Blake asked. Weiss had apparently already informed her of Reaper's lunch mate, much to Reaper's ire.

"Tomorrow?" Weiss looked to her girlfriend and sighed. "You _just now_ got on two feet again, tomorrow's a little soon to walk Vale."

"Ugh, fine, can I at least try walking to my dorm?" She asked the doctor.

"As long as you don't mind me dropping by there over the next couple of days to make sure nothing goes wrong." He told her.

Blake nodded and got dressed. With pants and shoes on, she looked the same as before. "How does it work? Aura?" Reaper, the weapon mechanic, was curious.

"If it worked solely on aura it would be too draining." Blake answered. "There's a rechargeable internal battery I'm supposed to plug in at night, and I'm getting a spare to change out on missions. I use my aura to move it, but it doesn't take much. Barely noticeable."

"That was my second guess." Reaper assured them.

"Of course it was." Weiss joked. Reaper replied with a rude, one fingered gesture.

When they got back to the dorm Blake had a question for Reaper. "Have you figured anything out about our attacker?"

"Crap… Sorry I've been a little distracted the past couple days." The scythe master confessed. "I had already hit a dead end anyway, I'm missing some vital clue, I have to be…"

Blake saw the artwork on Reaper's worksheet. "Reaper, have you considered the possibility that he got to Neopolitan, and that's why she's missed your meets?"

Reaper froze. She had, but she didn't want to accept it. "No, she's alive. She has to be… She's a survivor, she's not going to let herself die by Creature's hand…"

"Maybe he didn't kill her. He's after you, and you don't leave campus. He could be trying to draw you out." Blake theorized.

"How absent minded would he have to be to take her hostage and forget to inform me?" Reaper shot back.

After witnessing how methodical Reaper could be, this stubborn turn confused Blake. She looked again at the drawing of Neo and put pieces together. "You've got to be kidding me…" She whispered under her breath with an amused smile. Reaper didn't hear, but Weiss did. Blake answered her question before she asked it, whispering in her ear. Weiss rolled her eyes, less-than-amused at the theory. Not because it was ridiculous, but because it was entirely likely at this point.

Late that night, Reaper found it hard to get to sleep. Thoughts of Neo getting captured by Creature were worrying her beyond belief. She decided she needed to refocus on determining who he was… not that she knew much. Eventually, she just let her mind blend all her thoughts, hoping to just _catch_ something, like that theory with the monkeys and classic literature. She eventually felt her eyes close and she walked her memories in her dreams.

" _Don't make me choose!"_

" _Neo is my friend too…"_

" _REAPER!"_

 _Brutal Thorn's blade bends._

" _Any number of people could be after me!"_

" _I tended not to leave those people alive…"_

" _You hurt my sister, nearly killed her. It's difficult to get past…"_

Reaper turned in her sleep as her thoughts looped back around.

" _So please, don't make me choose."_

" _Is it us he's after?"_

 _Brutal Thorn's blade bends._

" _Just how many people have you killed…?"_

" _There was a girl who tried to kill us to keep her shop, a pair of stubborn brothers, a member of our own gang who set me off before I had Ember and- And Adam."_

" _It's difficult to get past you nearly killing my one of my family, especially one so dear to me."_

Reaper's eyes shot open. "What if…"

" _REAPERRR!"_

 _Brutal Thorn's blade bends._

" _-a pair of brothers-"_

" _-killing one of my own family-"_

"What if…" Reaper sat up.

 _Brutal Thorn's blade bends._

" _-a pair of brothers-"_

" _-especially one so dear to me."_

"What if I only _thought_ I killed him…?"

Brutal Thorn's blade bends. A pair of brothers, dear to each other. One of the few victims she _didn't_ decapitate. If anyone could survive what she _did_ do to him… Reaper knew who Creature was.


	32. Act 5: Ch 3

_Torchwick's complex, months before…_

Reaper was woken by the construction crews working on her new mansion of a private house. She had no idea what she would do with that much space, but it was cool to say she had a place like that. _If only the workers could, y'know, not wake me up all the time_. Seeing today was going nowhere good, she dreaded what was in store for the rest of it.

She walked to the kitchen area of the temporary housing where she slept while her mansion was being completed and halfway there she heard a knock on the door. Opening it revealed a tall, raven-haired woman. Reaper raised an eyebrow. "Ummm… Who the hell are you?"

"Torchwick's secretary." She replied eagerly.

Reaper gave an empty blink. They had moved the gang down here just a few weeks ago, and Torchwick was already on his _third_ secretary? Reaper resolved to stop learning their names, starting with tall, dark, and sexy here. "Gotcha. Alright, Legs, what does Roman want? Is this about that lady that owned that shop? Cause she attacked first, and he knows damn well how that goes."

"No, he more or less anticipated that outcome and has already cleaned you from the scene." She answered, slightly blushing after being called 'Legs'. "There's another situation, a couple of brothers who are stubbornly holding onto their factory." She handed over a folder and Reaper looked over it. The factory was right in the middle of territory the gang already owned. It could be _very_ dangerous to leave independent agents within their terrain.

"Wine brothers. Must have been teased horribly. Francis and Johnathon. Doesn't look like they'll be easy to persuade." Reaper noted.

"Mr. Torchwick is prepared for any contingency." The secretary told her.

Reaper rolled her eyes. She just _knew_ this was going to be a bad day. She pulled on her cloak, took up her new weapon, Brutal Thorn, and left the caverns. She managed to slip out without being seen by Neo. That girl was becoming a bit much, seemed to stick to her like glue lately. _Maybe she's put off so much work to stalk me she needs today to catch up,_ Reaper reasoned.

The factory soon towered above her. She highly doubted the brothers would be willing to open the front doors and let her in. She looked around and saw an open window… three stories up. Reaper smiled and walked ten feet in the other direction. Turning on her heel, she sprinted at the building and used her speed semblance to race up the side. She almost had enough momentum to catch the sill. Almost. Before she could fall, she used her speed to unfold Brutal Thorn and use the scythe blade as a hook on the open window.

 _Ugh… that's much easier with Weiss's glyphs…_

Reaper pulled herself through and stalked the railings and corridors of the factory. She didn't know what the machines here actually made, but she _did_ know that the workers produced something far different and far less legal. She eventually found what she figured was the main office, and saw the brothers inside.

"Roman will likely send one of these two to deal with us." The short, thin Francis said, pointing out pictures of Reaper and Neo.

"Neopolitan? Seriously? I thought our name was weird…" The taller, burlier Johnathon noted.

"You know you can keep your factory if you deal peacefully." Reaper announced her arrival as she stepped from the shadows. The brothers turned in shock. "Just join us. It's easier on us all."

"Our family has had this operation for generations." Francis spoke. "We won't lose it to some upstart!"

"Oh my god, all of you whiny bitches are like broken records…" Reaper sighed. "I'm tired of this shit, are we going to deal, or are you going to fight?"

Reaper felt herself smash through the door and across the catwalk beyond, landing hard on the grating. _Great, the big guy has strength… fucking_ ow _…_ Johnathon, the brother who had punched her several feet through the air, stepped out of the office and saw Reaper's eyes glow under the darkness of her hood. She flashed toward him, moving faster than his eye could see, and brought her scythe bade forward. The blade stopped dead in in tracks, held less than an inch from Johnathon's gut by a white glow. She quickly stepped away before he could strike again. "The hell…"

Johnathon laughed. "My semblance. Impenetrable Shield. Like it?" He gloated, brushing off where Brutal Thorn should have eviscerated him.

"Shit…" Reaper dodged his next attack, unsure what to do next. She couldn't let the brother hit her. If she went into a Red Haze, he would just shield himself until he could counter. _If I'm not careful, this man may actually kill me…_ She had to flip off the catwalk do avoid his next swing. She hooked her scythe's blade around the walkway of a catwalk a level down and swung herself safely on a catwalk a level further. The brother jumped, falling both levels and landing on the catwalk, his shield saving him from fall damage.

"Shit!" Reaper barely avoided another attack. _I need a plan and I need it NOW! Maybe I can overwhelm his semblance… I don't want to be close if I'm wrong…_ She jumped down another level to the ground floor and saw workers dashing from their stations where they were busy brewing the drugs a moment before. She head the brother fall through the air behind her and she took off for the drug lab. _Hopefully that cocky bastard is the kind to slow walk to his target…_

Reaper pulled all of her Burn rounds from her belt. Pocketing one, she used her strength to break the rest and poured the red dust into various beakers and all over the table and the equipment. She set herself above the doorway and waited. The brother followed into the seemingly empty lab. "Where are you hiding, Reaper?" He goaded.

She dropped from the ceiling, bringing down Brutal Thorn. She knew it would do nothing, but with the barrel pointed the way it was and against Johnathon's back, the scythe master pulled the trigger. The air round and her semblance put distance between her and the lab area, and hopefully the sheer force at least staggered the brother. _Guess I'm field testing this…_ Reaper thought glumly, top loading her remaining Burn round.

She brought the scope to her eye and aimed at the spiked equipment. _Please don't detonate in the chamber again…_ She pulled the trigger and felt the bullet leave properly. It hit a beaker and activated all the red dust. The drug lab explosion could likely be seen from Beacon and heard in Patch. The inferno blazed, and Reaper could hear Johnathon screaming in agony. She watched on as the fire only grew and the screams grew quiet.

"Johnnie…" Francis's eyes were wide, focused on the fire. Reaper turned to speak to the shorter brother and saw him pointing a gun at her head.

"You _really_ don't want to-" _Bang!_

She never finished her warning. The bullet bounced off her forehead, stopped by her aura. Yang's semblance aggravated and the Red Haze took over. By the time Reaper came back to her senses, Francis was little more than a puddle on the ground. Being the sole target of an entire Red Haze when you didn't have an aura was not pretty…

Reaper sighed. "I tried to warn you…" Reaper looked around at the chaos and felt it was best to leave before authorities showed up.

* * *

 _RWBY dorm, Present day…_

Reaper finished recounting the tale to her team mates. She looked up to see them wearing predictably horrified faces. "Yup. Ignorance is bliss."

"That explosion was a drug lab? That explosion was you?" Weiss asked.

"I had to do something to hurt that big fucker." Reaper shrugged.

"And you now think Johnathon Wine survived? That he's Creature?" Blake continued the questioning.

"The lab equipment was on his left side when it went off. It would have taken the most damage. Hence the cybernetics. And Ember's full strength against an 'Impenetrable Shield' is more than enough force to bend _anything_ , including Brutal Thorn." Reaper explained.

"And he's after you because…?" Weiss asked.

"I hurt his family. Someone especially dear to him. That kind of thing is difficult to get past." Reaper looked the heiress in the eye as she spoke. Her face softened and she nodded.

"Well," Weiss spoke, "there has to be some drawback to a semblance that powerful. Just look at yourself! Yang's semblance affected her anger, and affects yours worse. You have so much aura that you really shouldn't, and two semblances, one you weren't actually born with. Once you really think about it, it's no wonder your mind is broken. No offense."

"None taken." Reaper told her truthfully. She had accepted her own madness a while ago now.

 _ **I knew you loved me**_

"Shut up, Ember." Reaper replied quickly.

"He sounded pretty sane before the explosion." Blake noted. "There has to be some kind of weakness, maybe beyond overwhelming it. If we can find one, we can fight him."

"Because he is definitely far from done with me." Reaper agreed.

After a few more moments of silence Weiss spoke again. "Was Neo at lunch today, by any chance?"

Reaper's face fell and she shook her head 'no'. "I hope Creature doesn't have her…"

"We'll start looking for her, and Creature, as soon as I'm cleared by the doctor and Weiss to move in Vale." Blake promised.

"We better wait until you're combat ready, in case we run into him." The heiress pointed out. "Which shouldn't be a massive delay, Reaper."

Reaper nodded, her thoughts on her multi-colored friend. _Please be okay Neo… If you come walking back, just fine, you are_ so _going to get sub-par lunches for making me worry this much. None of your favorites for a week, I swear._

Unfortunately, Neo was far from okay. Another two days in Creature's captivity did little for her spirit. She was starting to doubt she could escape at all. _What does Reaper think of me vanishing? Maybe she just thinks I started working again? She has to know I'm missing by now… Is she worried at all? Even if she was, where would she begin looking for me? For Creature? I need to see her again… I need to get out of here… it's on you, you crazy mute._

Once more she struggled against her chains. Creature stared out the window, oblivious of his captives bid for freedom. The chains grew slick with blood as the small girl struggled to slip her hand through. That was when she felt it. The chain felt tighter. Her wrist slipped, just a little bit. _It's working after all…_ Neo's heart sped up. _IT'S WORKING!_ Her spirit renewed, she worked her other wrist and felt it slip. She braced herself for the massive pain to come and pulled with all her strength.

She bit her lip and started breathing quickly and shallowly. The voiceless girl could moan, and unfortunately, scream. The only two noises she ever made. The many times she wished for a voice, and she was trying so desperately not to make a sound right now. The next noise that was made was a thump as she fell to the floor. Creature turned quickly and Neo flashed away. His rage climbed exponentially, and he screamed at the spot his hostage used to be.

Neo found herself outside and saw it was night time. Creature would be after her soon. After being trapped like that for an entire week, she didn't have much energy left. She couldn't run for long, she needed to get to a safe place quickly. But where was safe for her? Nowhere, really… except, perhaps… She had never been there herself, but she had a general idea where it was. She hasn't made a blind jump in a long time, and she had never jumped this far in a single teleport before.

 _I can do it,_ she told herself. _I need too…_ She heard Creature screaming after her, coming closer. _Damn his eye…_ She had to teleport now. She looked across the skyline, hoping to find… yes, Beacon tower. She could gauge where campus was, and that oriented her location in Vale. She looked behind her and saw Creature's blade coming at her. She shut her eyes tight and focused on her destination.

There was a flash of light, and Creature's blade struck the pavement, unbloodied. Again, he screamed in a rage.

* * *

Reaper sat at the desk, trying to study in spite of the mess of worries in her head.

 _ **At least you're not drawing Neo all over the place again.**_

 _I suppose there is that… still can't think about anything else…_

At that moment, a flashbang went off in RWBY dorm. At least, that's what it felt like, with all the bright light and the loud banging noise. It woke the Checkmate couple up and Reaper spun in her seat. The three couldn't believe their eyes. Neopolitan lay on their floor, next to the coffee table it appeared she crashed into.

"Neo!" Reaper shouted, rushing to her friend's side. The girl was bloody and bruised. Her wrists were nearly worn to the muscle, and Reaper could feel in the way she held her that at least three ribs were broken. "Oh my god… where have you been…? What happened to you…?"

"We need to get her to the infirmary!" Weiss jumped out of bed. Neo shook her head.

"No, Weiss." Reaper cut in. "People will notice a non-student in the infirmary. You may not arrest her, and even Ozpin might not, but if the police force caught wind? Ironwood? I told, I won't betray friends."

"What else could we even do?" Weiss asked.

"Criminals aren't fond of hospitals." Blake spoke up next. "Between us, Reaper and I may be able to do quite a lot. Those are skills you tend to pick up. We're no doctors, but we can patch physical injuries."

"And Neo does have an aura. Once it's at strength, she'll be on her feet in no time." Reaper explained.

Weiss knew she was outvoted. It felt like the bunkbeds all over again. "Fine, but how do we get what we need?"

"It's called plausible deniability, Weiss." Reaper told her as she set Neo on her bed. "You don't ask, I won't tell." With that, Reaper was out the door. She returned in mere moments with medical supplies Weiss could only assume were stolen from the infirmary. The heiress couldn't believe they were actually doing this, hiding Neo in their dorm and playing nurse. Just a week ago, she would have arrested the multi-colored girl on the spot.

She shook her head in disbelief of what she was about to ask. "Is there anything I can do?"

The girls did their best to patch Neo up, and their best turned out to be surprisingly well. It helped that Reaper also picked up a few medical journals from the nurses lounge. Once everything was clean, set and bandaged Reaper drew the blanket up over her friend. "I'll be fine on the couch." She answered the question in saw behind the multi-colored eyes.

 _Thank you_ , Neo smiled. She knew it was risky coming to Reaper with the heiress nearby, but she trusted her friend would stand up for her.

"Neo… did Creature…?" Reaper asked unsteadily. Neo nodded, and felt the scythe master's anger rise. "I'm sorry… If I had known… if I knew where to start looking, I would have."

"She was ridiculously worried, by the way." Weiss told the criminal. "Unreasonably so, if you ask me."

The revelation made Neo smile. "I know who Creature is, Neo." Reaper took her friend's attention back, her tone serious. "We have a plan." Neo expression changed to one of worry and she shook her head vigorously. "Neo, he's going to keep coming after me, hurting my friends… He's dangerous, he needs to be stopped." Neo frowned. She didn't like it, but she knew it would be impossible to dissuade Reaper.


	33. Act 5: Ch 4

That first day the Neo slept well into the afternoon. When she awoke she was alone in the dorm. She panicked for just a moment until memories of the night before returned to her. She looked to her side to see a plate of food and two notes written out for her.

 _Had to attend class. Don't open the door for anyone. If someone besides us comes in somehow, hide. I'll be back at lunch. Reaper._

 _Came back for lunch. You slept through the whole thing. Hopefully the food isn't too cold by the time you get it. Changed your wrist bandages, and your aura seems to have started working on them. See you after class. Reaper._

Neo smiled. The food was cold, but she was too hungry to care. After she finished eating, she looked around RWBY dorm. The school had a completely different feel to it than Vale, especially the side of Vale Neo was used to. It was a comforting, homey environment, especially with the den area set up in this particular room. Part of her could feel why Reaper wanted to stay.

The door began opening and Neo shimmered out of sight. Team RWBY walked in alone and turned to Reaper's bed. Neo breathed a sigh of relief and faded back into view.

"Hey, you're up." Reaper smiled. "How are you feeling?"

Neo shrugged. _About as well as I can be._

"I get that." Reaper nodded.

"Don't forget to work on your studies. Blake and I are going to see about her fighting condition." Weiss told the ex-criminal as she and her girlfriend picked up their weapons.

Reaper rolled her eyes. "Yes, _mother_." Weiss and Blake left and Reaper pulled open the front of the desk. Neo watched with intrigue as Reaper pulled all the drink ingredients out of the hidden compartment and made one to have with her work. Neo shakily stood up and went over to open the secret compartment and found the inside cold. She also found she wasn't wearing her usual outfit.

"Don't worry, I changed you. It's not like I haven't seen it all before." Reaper assured. "The fridge is cool, though, huh? Made it myself… And I swear that wasn't a pun."

Neo found a nearby mirror and looked over herself. The black tank top had an interesting heart design and the white bottoms had roses all over them. It didn't feel like something she would willingly wear on any other occasion. _Wait, roses…_

"They're my old pajamas. It was either those, or one of Weiss's nightgowns. Everything else was far too large for you." Reaper explained. "Even those are a little big."

The bottoms were indeed rolled up a little. Neo smiled. If it was Reaper's old clothes, even from when she was 'Ruby', then she supposed she could deal with it. It didn't stop her from wondering where her own clothes were, a question she posed as soon as she found writing material.

"We managed to slip them in the laundry with all our clothes. The machines can handle blood. This _is_ a combat school." Reaper answered. Neo nodded and elected to watch Reaper study for a while. Schooling like this was not an experience Neo had firsthand, and now that she was here she couldn't help but be curious. She quickly concluded that studying was absolutely boring.

Neo smiled. There was something she missed, a distraction they could both use right now. There problems would still be there for them to handle when they were finished. Neo hung off of Reaper's back and traced a hand down the taller girl's front. A hand that was stopped and held by Reaper's own. "Neo, if we start that and _don't_ finish and clean up before the others get back, which by the way I am confident we won't, it would lead to a _very_ awkward situation I'm sure neither of us want to have." The scythe girl explained.

Neo frowned and let Reaper refocus on her work. She was about to go back to the bed but realized Reaper had yet to let go of her hand. She simply held it there, across her stomach, forgoing her drink in the process as she worked. Neo smiled and figured she could give this whole watching her study thing another shot, looking over her object of desire's shoulder at the home made worksheet. There were a few things on there Neo actually knew the answer to. One of them she got to point out when she saw Reaper was stuck on it. The scythe girl thanked her and circled the answer.

The door began opening sometime later, and Neo jumped off Reaper and illusioned out of view. After Weiss and Blake shut the door, she disillusioned herself and sat on the bed.

"So when can we start looking?" Reaper asked immediately, her tone deadly serious.

"It's a little harder to get used to than I thought at first…" Blake admitted.

"How long?" Reaper asked again, wanted to get straight to finding this guy.

"A few more days, at least, just by eyeballing how well she did today compared to what she was like before." Weiss answered.

Reaper's impatience was palpable. If there was one thing Ruby and Reaper truly shared, it was that they cared for those they called friends. With Reaper's anger issues, this meant she wanted nothing more right now than to pound Creature into a bloody mess. This man had not only hurt Blake, but also tortured Neo, all in his efforts to come after the scythe master herself. But she couldn't leave school grounds on her own, and Weiss was making her wait until Blake was ready to join them.

She growled as she returned to her worksheet. She didn't see _why_ Weiss wanted to wait until Blake could join them. They could always go without her. But she didn't want to begin arguing with the heiress again when she was more frustrated at herself and angry at Creature.

 _ **We can busy ourselves watching over Neo until Blake is ready.**_

 _Yeah, I suppose…_

* * *

It was day three of her stay, and Neo felt well enough to remove her bindings. There was some redness and soreness around her wrists and one rib that had a particularly nasty fracture when she arrived, but all that she could do was wait for it to go away on its own. She decided she was well enough to explore, as long as she remained invisible. Knowing her plan would get shot down in an instant, she made the _brilliant_ decision _not_ to inform team RWBY that she was going to follow them around Beacon all day to see what classes were like. The girls shared breakfast in the dorm with Neo before taking off. Neo made sure she was invisible and barely made it out the door before it closed.

The first class of the day was a lecture with a rather large and brilliantly mustachioed man. She knelt on the floor beside Reaper, leaning on the desk part of the classroom stands. _Pity there's no free seat…_ Reaper stiffened visibly and cursed under her breath. Neo noticed this and cursed under hers. _Reaper spent how long feeling my illusions? No way she doesn't know I'm here now…_ Neo resolved to finish the day out regardless. She wanted to see what was so appealing about Beacon.

The lecture finally began, and the teacher, Professor Port according to his desk, began to talk about a few different breeds of Grimm. Neo assumed the lecture would turn to their various strengths and weaknesses, but she was soon listening to some grand tale that was supposedly from Port's personal history. The multi-colored girl could smell bullshit all over it. She looked over Reaper's shoulder at her book and saw that this was indeed a 'Grimm Studies' class. She looked around the room and could only pick out five people who were still awake, including herself. Team RWBY and a girl with a gold headband over bright red hair being the others. _Make that four_ , Neo witnessed Reaper's head hit the desk.

A few classes later and they had a history lesson with a Professor Oobleck. Neo knew enough about learning from past mistakes to see why a history class would be important for huntresses. She also found herself greatly amused the man himself. He reminded Neo of a green chipmunk on speed, zooming around the classroom with nothing aiding he fleet-footedness but the power of _way_ too much caffeine. He scolded a boy name Cardin for not calling him 'Doctor' Oobleck, because apparently he worked hard for that.

Next was lunch and Neo tried to make a mad dash back to the dorm, but felt a hand clasp around her arm. Neo frowned as Reaper dragged her into the bathroom. Thankfully it was unoccupied. Neo knew it was pointless to remain invisible from the scythe girl.

"What the hell are you thinking?" Reaper asked her as she shimmered into view. Already frustrated from a lack of hunting Creature, she was not in the mood to deal with this. Neo crossed her arms and hung her head, trying to wear ' _I just wanted to see what classes were like'_ on her face. "I wouldn't mind as much if it was just me hiding you, but if you get caught, you'll be dragging Weiss and Blake down as well." Reaper told her friend. Neo frowned. She really wanted to see what the rest of classes were like. Reaper looked at her friends sad face and sighed. "I swear to _god_ if you get caught, I will _never_ forgive you." Neo eyes went wide and she nodded vigorously to show she understood. Reaper shook her head in disbelief she was allowing this. "Stay close to me. If I feel you leave my side, there better be a good reason."

Invisible once more, she finally got to see the place where all the food she eats comes from. Weiss and Blake were waiting in a corner by the door. "So were you dragging off you-know-who?" Weiss asked.

Reaper nodded. "I can't stop her when she gets like this. All I can do is try and help her do it safely."

"Wait, is she here now?" Blake shifted uncomfortably. Neo ventured to poke the cat girl's shoulder, and the faunus froze for a second. "Great…"

Weiss was pinching the bridge of her nose. "Whatever. It's too late now. Let's just get through this. At least the whole school knows you're crazy. No one's going to question you dragging off thin air..."

The girls sat down, and Reaper felt Neo lean on her to stay close in case someone wanted to sit on that side of her.

 _ **Or she's just leaning on us to lean on us. Girl's crazy for us. As in 'literally insane with affection'.**_

 _Oh, shut the_ hell _up!_

 _ **Even**_ **you** _ **can't deny it anymore, Reaper. She came straight to us, even risking being around Weiss, when she was hurt.**_

Unfortunately the proof was in favor of the fact Reaper continued to ignore. She looked down and saw cat ears, a leg, and a question mark drawn in her mashed potatoes. She quickly shoved the evidence in her mouth before answering Neo's question.

"She got it replaced with a cybernetic leg. A very expensive one." Reaper told her. Blake looked to the spot next to Reaper, where she could see an indent in the scythe master's cloak.

Neo nodded, making sure Reaper could feel the action against her shoulder. She didn't realize until she second day that Blake was walking around on two legs and hadn't found a place to ask the question until now.

The next hour was elective classes for team RWBY. Weiss had some business classes, which she only took to have the official scores for her future and head of the SDC. She complained often that she knew more than the teacher. Blake had no elective and used the free hour in the gym to work on her coordination with her new leg. Reaper, who Neo was now officially stuck to like glue, headed off to Weapon Engineering.

Reaper was recently cleared to re-enter this class, and after fixing Brutal Thorn, spent a lot of time as an unofficial teacher's aide, using her hard won expertise to help the lower level students. Something Neo noticed immediately was who else was in this class. Velvet was already at a desk when they walked in, tinkering with her weapon and helping a blonde monkey faunus with his four red pistols. It was strange to be just a few feet away from a girl she had tried to kill twice.

Velvet felt the unease of someone staring at her and an energy that , while she couldn't place it, felt uncomfortably familiar. She looked up, straight at the invisible girl. Neo thought she was caught until the rabbit panned left, then right, then left again. The brown eyes soon found Reaper, and they grew sad and settled back on her work. The monkey boy looked up at Reaper and placed a comforting hand on Velvet's back.

Reaper watched Sun and Velvet interact and smiled. _Good for them._

After the electives, team RWBY regrouped to go to combat class. Neo was hoping to see Reaper, or rather Ember, fight in class today. She entered and felt the sheer strict energy of the teacher, Professor Goodwitch according to her desk. She could already tell this was the teacher no one fucked with. She settled close to Reaper, the bleacher set up of the seats here allowing her to actually sit down and rest.

The first match of the day was between Weiss and a boy named Jaune Arc. She recognized him as one of Reaper's friends. She also recognized that he got absolutely creamed by the icy heiress. Next a boy named Cardin got his entire team, CRDL, to challenge one girl, the redhead from earlier, whose name was Pyrrha Nikos. She was ready to feel bad for Pyrrha, the girl alone against four opponents. Until Pyrrha wiped the floor with CRDL.

"Cardin and his team are all jerks, and Pyrrha's a world renowned competition fighter." Reaper clarified for her small, invisible friend. Neo nodded. No reason to feel bad for the losers. Blake versus a boy named Lie Ren was the next fight, and far more even than the previous battles. She actually didn't know who would win, but eventually it was Lie Ren with 16 aura points to Blake's losing 14 points.

"We have time for one last match…" Goodwitch announced. "Reaper, you've sat out the last few. Why don't you and Ember try?"

Reaper considered turning her down, but her only reason was to stay in the stands with Neo. With a sigh, she got up and went to the combat floor. She told Glynda to choose her opponent, and it turned out to be the monkey boy from Weapon Engineering, who Neo now learned was named Sun. Neo smiled, this is what she was hoping to see above all else today. On the edge of her seat, Neo waited for the fight to begin.


	34. Act 5: Ch 5

"Sun Wukong." Glynda announced from the randomization system. Reaper watched the monkey boy jump down from the bleachers.

"So what's this I hear about this Ember chick fighting for you?" Sun asked.

Reaper stuck her shoulder and Ember pulled the blade out, opening her red eyes. " **Hey, banana brains. I'm Ember.** "

Sun raised an eyebrow. "Oh… Yeah, that doesn't surprise me by now."

Ember unfolded Brutal Thorn and Sun readied his semblance stance. The timer clicked down and when the match began, Sun activated his clones. The golden silhouettes ran to Ember and she cut the first one down, not expecting it to explode on contact. As she stumbled from the blast, the second one hit her. She recovered in time to see Sun come at her with his full staff. She backed up just enough to avoid the strike and brought her foot down on the staff.

Rather than allow himself to be completely disarmed, he separated his weapon and held on to one of the shotgun-nun chucks. Ember swung up, making Sun backflip away. She kicked the half of the weapon under her foot out of the arena. Sun couldn't collect it without ringing himself out. His weapons were perfect for close combat, and Ember realized she had to either try and stay long range or use her speed to guerilla fight. She elected to try the latter first, and loaded an air magazine.

Pointing the barrel behind her, Ember fired and used her speed semblance to pass by Sun, hitting him along the way. He stumbled, and she turned and went again. She struck him several times like this before he found a way to block. Using the chain of his weapon, he wrapped it around Brutal Thorn and attempted to tear the weapon away, turning and pulling.

Ember smiled and timed her pull of the trigger for when the blade serrations would be pointed at him. Now at Sun's back with her scythe around Sun's front, she began pulling toward herself, unrelenting. He raised his forearms to block and could feel the pressure from the scythe as Ember pulled. He looked to the screen and saw that with Brutal Thorn pressed against his arms like this, his aura was draining fast. He brought his hands together and spawned more clones, hoping to blow Ember off of him.

Ember jumped away the second she saw Sun's hair glow and managed to avoid the clones. Realizing he still had his clones, Sun sent one after Ember and the other to grab the weapon half that was outside of the arena. The scythe master used the air rounds to launch herself over the aggressor clone and went straight for Sun. The focus necessary for his semblance was its drawback, and Sun cursed himself as he felt Brutal Thorn propel him across the arena. His copies faded with his concentration lost.

The last half of Sun's weapon lie at Ember's feet. She lugged Brutal Thor over her shoulder, using her feet to kick the chained pistols into her free hand. Swinging the monkey's weapon in circles, Ember turned to him. " **Are you going to keep fighting, Abs?** "

He stood up, shrugged and shook his head. "Nah. I'm not _that_ stupid."

The buzzer rang. "In that case, I am calling the fight." Goodwitch annouced. "Good work, both of you. Ember remains undefeated."

"Undefeated?" Sun asked. "I knew you were good against Grimm, but when the hell did you get so good at fighting _people_?"

" **Trust me, shirtless wonder. You don't want the whole answer. Let's just saw we picked up the skills while we were… away. Fighting for your life against people willing to take it can do wonders.** " Ember threw Sun the half of his weapon she held. He went to retrieve the other half and Ember returned to the seats to meet up with her team and Neo as class was dismissed.

Neo was more than happy with the outcome of the match. The fact that the voice Ember used when she was in control made it sound like she was flirting with everyone kind of irked her, but she knew it was just a voice with no actual intent.

" **Hey, ice cream cup.** " Ember whispered as they walked back, looking Neo's way and throwing in a wink.

Neo was grateful she was invisible. _That_ time the flirty voice was _definitely_ filled with intent.

 _Dear god, Ember…_

 _ **Only doing you a favor.**_

 _So_ you _think…_

* * *

Reaper tossed on her cloak. Today was they day. Finally, they would start looking for Creature. Blake was well enough to fight if it came down to it. Neo wanted to go as well, but realized she was missing a vital piece, her umbrella. She had dropped it in that alley, almost two weeks ago now. Who knows where it is now. Reaper turned to the multi-colored girl. "Neo, I want you to stay behind anyway." The scythe girl told her friend.

Blake smirked and Weiss shook her head. Neo went through many different emotions in a few seconds, unsure which to settle on. "We're not going to fight him if we run into him anyway." Reaper assured her. "Not until we have a plan to beat him. I may be a bit… overeager to pound his face in, but I'm not letting anyone else get hurt because of his vendetta against me." Neo frowned and crossed her arms. Was Reaper really going to make her stay behind? Why? "You would have to stay invisible the whole time, or risk being seen with us, and that will drain too much of your energy if we end up _having_ to fight, and you don't even have your umbrella." Reaper explained. Neo accepted the reason and reluctantly sat back on Reaper's bed.

"Where can we start looking?" Weiss asked as they left the dorm.

"I want to go to the factory. If Creature really is Johnathon Wine, Maybe we can find something that points the way he went after the 'accident'." Reaper theorized.

The girls soon stood in front of a scene still cordoned off by police tape, although there were no police to be seen. The side of the factory was completely blown out on the lower floor. The entire area was covered in soot and ash. The fire blazed so hot that it warped and melted the metal tables, turning them to slag.

"And you think Johnathon Wine survived _this_?" Blake asked, disbelief in her voice.

"If anyone could, it's mister impenetrable shield. Besides, there so sign of his body and only Francis's was mentioned in the police report." Reaper answered. The others sighed and conceded, seeing as this was their only lead anyways. They began searching, seeing nothing but black soot, black ash, and the occasional gray ash. Reaper was about to give up when she something other than black and grey. A spot of red on the remaining window fragments in the wall, layered _over_ the fire damage.

Reaper pulled out her scroll and checked the public police report again. The first reporting officer didn't even approach the fire until it burned itself out. The fire crews never even tried. It was possible Johnathon didn't move until the fire stopped and still made it out before police could see him. "Weiss, anyway we can test this blood? See who it came from?" Reaper asked.

Weiss walked over at looked at what she found and nodded. "I can talk to people in the police station. The Schnee name is very powerful." Blake was sent to retrieve plastic gloves, cotton swabs, and zip-lock baggies from a nearby convenience store so they could properly collect the evidence. They went to the police station next, and Weiss stopped the group outside. "Reaper, I think you should stay out here."

"You don't think the sight of a publicly broadcast criminal is going to make cops jumpy, do you?" Reaper replied sarcastically. "Well, I'm less than comfortable going in there myself. But what about the Schnee name? Blake can't enforce that."

"No, but Blake can watch you. I'll be as quick as I can." She kissed her girlfriend quickly and headed inside.

 _ **Could it be? Is she starting to**_ **trust** _ **us?**_

 _Looks like it…_

Blake saw Reaper smile and wore one herself.

After a few minutes of just standing there, Weiss emerged with a report in her hands. "So the blood isn't Johnathon Wine's."

"Whose, then?" Reaper asked.

"A man named Dr. Verdant Stein." The leader showed the file to her team.

"He's not police." Blake mentioned.

"His blood was on top of the soot." The scythe master reminded them. "He was there after the fire for sure. Maybe he knows something?"

Weiss smiled. "That's why I got his address."

As they walked to the location, Reaper read the profile. It appears Dr. Stein was once a respected electronic scientist, but was caught performing questionable practices with… cybernetics.

' _ **To which he was then revoked of his license.'**_

' _Now under suspicion of performing illegal cybernetic surgeries.'_

"And the plot thickens…" Reaper thought aloud. They reached the address soon after, a rather large and rather ramshackle apartment. "If I ever need cybernetic surgery, I want to be as far from this place as possible. Just looking at it is infecting wounds I don't even have yet…"

"You take what you can get, I suppose." Weiss said through a scrunched nose.

Reaper strode up the porch steps and knocked on the door. It opened to a rather frazzled looking white-haired man. "Yes, yes, what do you want!?" He asked.

"We're huntr-" Weiss was cut off by Reaper stealthily jabbing her in the ribs.

"We're hunters, like big game and stuff." Reaper told the man. "We're looking for Dr. Stein? My friend got her leg mangled in a bear trap, and what we're using now isn't cutting it."

He raised his eyebrow. "Why are hunters coming to my door?"

Reaper leaned in and whispered. "I believe you may be able to relate to a certain, ah… lack of credentials?"

"Poachers…" he whispered back. "Very well, come inside, all of you." The three 'poachers' stepped through the doorway. Instead of a living room, the den space was occupied by low-grade surgery equipment and a surprisingly clean gurney. "So, which of you is in trouble, dearies?"

"You are, actually, and if you try to run out the back passage you have hidden, I promise I'm much faster than you." Reaper smiled.

He looked between the three girls. "Huntresses! I'm so stupid… We shall see about your speed, _girl_." He took off. He was surprisingly spry for an old man, but couldn't outrun Reaper's speed semblance. The scythe master picked him up by the neck of his coat and threw him onto the gurney. Unfolding Brutal Thorn, she pointed the weapon straight at him.

"Let's try this again, shall we?" Reaper asked.

"Devils! What do you want!?" He shouted.

"Johnathon Wine. The Creature himself. You worked on him, didn't you?" Reaper pressed.

"Johnathon Wine? Was that his name? He wouldn't tell me. The blast, you see, scrambled his mind terribly. Kept going on about a reaper of some kind." Stein looked between the scythe and the black hood. "You wouldn't happen to be 'Reaper' would you? You did quite a number on him."

"We're aware. We need to know what you've done to him." Reaper continued.

"I have files, in that drawer." He pointed and Weiss opened it up and looked through the various subjects.

"Got it. John Doe, 'Creature' is written underneath like a side note. Good god…" Weiss looked over the sheet and handed it to Blake.

Stein eyed Weiss's hand, which still held the rest of the files. "Would you kindly put those back… and _fuck off_!" The heiress glared at the doctor. She drew Myrtenaster and used her ice to freeze Stein to the gurney. "What the _fuck_ , lassie!?"

"We'll hold onto Creature's, but the rest of these files are more than enough to convict the good doctor. He's not going anywhere until police show up." Weiss stated proudly.

" _Police!?_ You got what you wanted! Fucking huntresses, I hope you _do_ get caught in a bear trap!" He kept shouting as the girls left the apartment. "Fuck that! I hope Creature rips your _fucking_ head off! Those files won't be enough to prepare you! Fucking… FUCK!"

"Such a colorful personality." Weiss rolled her eyes.

"We couldn't agree more." Reaper and Ember assured.

"What was with the lie?" Blake asked. "We kinda outed ourselves once we got inside anyway."

"We wouldn't have gotten inside without that lie. He was ready to slam the door in our face, and then even _our_ speed wouldn't have beaten him to whatever secret escape passage he has." Reaper answered.

Blake and Weiss nodded. It was interesting, and quite beneficial, to have a recently experienced criminal on the team, especially for a task that dragged them through the seedy underbelly. They dropped the files off, along with a note to bring Burn dust to melt the ice, in the Anonymous Tip box at the nearest precinct. The saw a police car leave the garage and go the direction of Stein moments later, and walked back to Beacon with smiles on their faces.

They entered the dorm and Neo visibly relaxed. Well, once she was visible. The girls set about reading through the file, hoping to find some weakness to exploit. Reaper got her first good look at the file. There were journal notes attached to the front page.

 _I went to investigate an explosion of a nearby drug lab. I really must shake the hand of whoever finally dealt a blow to filthy addicts that line the streets. I felt the urge, like destiny guiding my hand, to stay and watch the fire. It burned itself out, and I saw something truly miraculous. A man, on the ground, horridly burned and broken. But breathing! How, I asked myself, how!? I took him back to my lab. This man needed my help. He would be my master piece._

 _p.s. I noticed a tear in my shoulder. I must have nicked it pulling the man out. Good thing the Valen police force is a bunch of blind braggarts._

Masterpiece was one word for it. Reaper turned the page and saw a visual representation of all the changes, a drawing layered over a printout of a human form. They could confirm Neo's guess that his eye can track aura. Aside from that and his arm, there were also modifications all over his legs and chest. It explained his sudden boost in height. There was a side note of three broken scalpels in the early operation.

A half an hour in, Neo put down the paper she was looking at and picked back up surgery notes. She perused a few other pages before taking up a notebook and writing Reaper an observation.

'No shrapnel.'

Reaper took a moment to consider this, before racing through the various papers once again. Neo was right. In the pre-surgery notes, Stein noted there was no shrapnel. The various diagrams outlying the damage confirmed this.

 _ **He was right next to the table with all the equipment, how is there no shrapnel, glass, nothing pre-surgery?  
**_

 _No shrapnel, three scalpels broken…_

Reaper picked back up the notes from the actual performance of the surgery. He had to resort to his laser tools to work on Creature.

 _Fire, lasers…_

 _ **Energy, Reaper.**_

"We got it!" Reaper shouted.

"Got what?" Weiss asked, suddenly perked up from the cusp of sleep.

"His shield isn't so impenetrable…" Reaper smirked. "It stops all solids, but the fire and the laser tools bypassed it entirely. It only stops the physical, it doesn't stop energy!"

Weiss took up the files and double checked Reaper's assumption. She paced for a few minutes and turned back to her team. "Okay then. The evidence backs up this assumption. It would even help explain how he survived the fire, despite having to turn into _this_ ," She shook the papers, "because of it. I believe you failed to overwhelm his semblance, but he still suffered from the heat and the fire. Working off this, I have a plan. We need the right location, and a way to draw out Creature. And Neo."

"We have the perfect bait." Reaper pointed out. "But Neo can't fight, and his eye will see through her illusions. He'll notice they don't have nearly enough aura to be a living thing."

"If all goes well, she actually won't need to." The heiress assured.

Reaper looked to Neo, and the smaller girl nodded. She wanted to help.

Reaper looked back to Weiss. "Alright. Let's find our windmill and catch us a monster."


	35. Act 5: Ch 6

After classes the next day, the girls set out to find their 'windmill'. An abandoned chemical factory in Industrial was the perfect setting. From there Weiss, Blake and Reaper went to work on the first part of their plan. Weiss began setting up the trap itself, while the scythe master was tasked with searching for Creature so she could lead him there when the time was right. Blake was going along as Reaper's chaperone, since she still wasn't allowed to wander Vale alone.

Weiss watched them leave and set to work filling one of the chemical tanks with water. The plumbing for the factory was out of order, which is why Weiss had to stay behind for the plan. Using ice dust and slowly melting it so it didn't evaporate in the process was how she had to get the water in place for their plan. Five minutes in she got a call from Reaper. "Did you find him?" Weiss asked as she picked up.

" **Yes, we definitely found him**!" Ember's voice replied.

"Well keep an eye on him until I call you to come back." Weiss told her. She then heard an explosion in the background of the call and realized it was Ember she was talking to.

" **Yeah, not gunna happen!** " Ember shouted over the line.

"What the hell happened?" Weiss asked.

" **We found him, because he found us first! We're bringing him back, going to hold our parry match in front of the factory until you're ready for him!** " Ember hung up before Weiss could respond. The heiress cursed under her breath and doubled her efforts for the trap. Moments later, Ember and Blake sped into the courtyard, with Creature hot on their trail.

The beast of a man roared at them. He was going to kill Reaper for what she did to him. It was all he knew. He brought up his cannon and fired on the scythe master. She jumped toward him, over the blast, and clipped him with Brutal Thorn as she sped by. She knew it wouldn't do anything, but she had to keep his attention focused on her. If he noticed the heiress (or worse, an unarmed Neo) nearby, Reaper and Ember were afraid he would go after them.

Blake fired on him with Gambol Shroud. The two huntresses figured that, between them, they could continually divert his attention back and forth before he focused on a single one of them long enough to do damage. He turned on his heel and fired at the assaulting faunus. A stone after-image took the blast for her. Ember approached from behind and brought her scythe blade across his side.

Again, he roared in anger. He shifted his arm into its blade form and brought it down. Ember barely avoided the strike. She seized the opportunity to grab his mechanical forearm and jam the blade into the concrete. With Creature crouched over, Ember rolled onto his back and fired barrel-down to launch herself through the air and away from Creature. Blake jumped into the air, passing by Ember and over Creature. Sending a Burn-after image down at the latter, Creature was brought to his knee by the fire based attack.

He ripped his blade from the ground and aimed his swing for where Blake would land. Ember didn't want to watch her lose another leg, and raced toward the beast of a man. She used Brutal Thorn as a hook around his arm and pulled with all her strength, stopping the swing dead in its tracks. The force should have torn the arm off, but it seemed true that his shield covered his cybernetics as well. Blake landed safely and jumped away.

Creature roared and pulled with his arm, ripping Brutal Thorn from Ember's hands. His blade came back at the scythe master, and she barely avoided it. It passed inches from her chest as she back hand-sprang away, adding a flip after to bring herself further away. She felt a hand on her shoulder as she stood and saw Neo next to her. Creature swung at the pair, and they shattered on impact.

Neo sent Ember to her scythe and nodded, accepting an unspoken thanks. Ember picked up her weapon and jumped back into the fray. Creature knew something wasn't right when there was no blood. He turned and saw his quarry racing back towards him, blade in hand. He shifted him arm to cannon mode and fired at the approaching huntress. Ember dropped to her knees and slid under the blast, her scythe blade sparking on the ground behind her. As she came back up, she pointed the barrel down and shot herself completely over Creature, outside of his blade's range. As she landed, she heard Weiss call out, "Now!"

Ember smiled and folded Brutal Thorn into its sheath. " **Come on, Franken-fucker, you can try harder than that!** " She goaded, making her way to the factory. Creature chased after her through the halls and railing, growing more agitated the longer she refrained from turning to fight. Ember spotted Neo next to the target position. _**It would have an 'x' on the ground in a cartoon**_ , she mused. She also saw the vat of water that was tinted slightly yellow. Everything was in place.

Ember stopped short on her imaginary 'x'. Her eyes found Creature chasing her and speed, blade out. At the last second Neo teleported the pair away again, leaving Creature alone on the walkway. His eye couldn't even track Reaper's aura in the area. He found someone's though, and looked up to see a giant crane hook coming his way. Blake had held it until he showed up from a higher railing, and let it go to swing into the angry goliath. No matter how good a shield, it couldn't stop all the momentum from a 100-plus pound chunk of metal.

He was knocked over the railing and into the water. His loose wires set off the lightning dust Weiss had so carefully managed to mix in without setting off. For a brief few seconds, the vat looked like a mass of sentient electricity, flashing brightly and continuously. Creature's screams could be heard throughout the factory, confirming to everyone the success. The light flashed for the last time, and Ember entered the area to see the water had completely evaporated from the energy that just passed through it so intensely. Creature lay at the bottom of the steaming vat, unconscious.

 _Unconscious…_

 _ **But alive.**_

Ember jumped down into the vat. She pulled her Burn rounds from her belt. All it would take at this point is a little fire to eat at his brain, and Creature would die. She brought her other hand up to crack open the rounds.

 _Ember, wait!_

Ember groaned. " **After everything that happened, and you want to keep him alive?** "

 _No, I don't. But we're a huntress now, Ember. We can't just kill people, not even him._

" **I think people will understand.** " Ember growled, squeezing the rounds in her hand.

 _He's subdued. He can be arrested. Ember, you know I'm right._

" **He's going to come after us again later, first chance he gets. I thought you learned you lesson about being a 'hero'.** "

 _There are no heroes. But we_ are _a huntress now. If he does come after us again, then I'll seriously consider letting you kill him. But not now. We have to prove we can be this, Ember._

Ember sighed and dropped the bullets without cracking them open. Reaper slid back to the front of their mind. "Thank you…"

 _ **Yeah, yeah… this is so gunna bite us in the ass someday…**_

* * *

"The past few days were quite busy for local police forces. A few notable arrests made were of one Doctor Verdant Stein, a notorious black market cyberneticist and a patient of his turned urban legend and local monster, Johnathon Wine, AKA The Creature.

"Dr. Stein will likely serve 25 years in prison for dozens of counts of performing cybernetic surgery without a license. His files are being used to track down other patients. This had led to the arrest of 5 small time crooks so far. As for Johnathon Wine, subject of the local rumor referring to him as The Creature, all non-vital parts were disassembled with the help of Stein's surgery notes on him, and he was sent to the maximum security ward of the Valen Asylum for the Criminally Insane.

"Reporters have asked the chief of police about the rumors that subject of recent controversy and supposed 'criminal-turned-huntress', Ruby Rose, AKA Reaper, AKA Ember, had a large hand in these recent high profile arrests. He declined to comment. Plenty of scroll camera images and videos propping up across the net support these rumors, but as an impartial reporter I can only say, it's up to you what you want to believe."

Reaper smiled and closed the scroll, cutting off the live news report before she heard about the weather.

 _ **We should get our name legally changed, so our future driver's license will say 'Reaper Rose'. Then maybe people will stop calling us 'Ruby'.**_

"Not a bad idea, actually. It would be weird for our ID to say 'Ruby' when we call ourselves 'Reaper'." The scythe girl nodded.

Currently they were enjoying the warmth of the sun in the Beacon courtyard. Reaper was waiting for the cafeteria to open for lunch so she could get her food and see if Neo was going to show up today. As she waited Sun took a seat next to her.

"I heard you stopped that big guy that hurt Blake." He said. "Good job, Reaper." With a smile, he added, "Got it that time."

Reaper chuckled. "How's Velvet?" she asked.

"She's doing better. She's a cool chick. So chill about everything, but it's fun to see her get excited about something that she really enjoys. Like her weapon." Sun answered, his smile only growing.

"I know what you mean. Take good care of her, you hear? I'm not squeamish at the sight of blood." The ex-criminal half-joked/half-warned.

Sun nodded. "Nothing's official yet, but she told me she's going to hunt out of Mistral after she graduates. She's looking at apartments close to Haven. I think it's looking pretty good."

Reaper smiled and nodded. Sun left to go find the rabbit in question. A few moments later her scroll buzzed. She saw 'Dad' calling her.

 _ **Shit, we completely forgot about that…**_

She hit answer and brought the device to her ear. "Hey… sorry, I meant to call sooner, but I got wrapped up in… something."

"A fight with a near-invincible brute?" Taiyang asked.

"Maybe…" Reaper realized he likely decided to call because he watched the same news report she did.

There was a moment of awkward silence before Taiyang spoke again. "I, uh… hear you're back at Beacon."

"Yeah, but a lot is different…" Reaper found the words flowing out of her mouth, almost beyond her control. "I'm sure you watched my trial… I still go by Reaper, and Ember takes over when Yang's semblance acts up. I don't lose control anymore because she can fight for us. So I'm not taking any medication for it. Sorry, but you're stuck with a clinically insane, ex-criminal 'Reaper' for a daughter… If I am still your daughter…"

"I see…" Taiyang fell quite for a few moments. "It will take some getting used to, but you _are_ still my daughter. I lost Yang. I lost you once. I'm not letting you go again. In fact, Ozpin told me that as a huntsman, you can be placed in my custody during break, here in Patch. If you want to come home."

Reaper smiled. "I think I would like that…"

"Before I go, Velvet called me. She's mailing home your old cloak and Crescent Rose. I take it 'Reaper' isn't going to be using them?"

"No. We got all that covered already." Reaper told him. It sounded like Velvet was truly trying to move on.

 _ **Probably has a lot to do with Sun.**_

 _Good for them._

"Alright, I gotta go. I'll be out when the festival begins proper, so I'll see you soon. I love you." Taiyang spoke across the line.

"I love you too… dad." Reaper hung up two seconds before the cafeteria opened.

Reaper ran into Weiss and Blake as she approached the cafeteria door. Almost literally. "You're in a hurry." Weiss pointed out. "Going to your usual lunch spot?" Reaper nodded.

"Tell her we said 'Thank you.'" Blake asked. "We didn't get a chance to before she ran away after helping us with Creature."

"I will." The scythe master promised. She collected her double-helping of food, filled with all of Neo's favorites, and flashed out of the cafeteria. Across campus, her and Neo's table was still abandoned by the rest of the student body. Reaper sat down and watched the tree line. Three minutes into waiting and her smile faltered. Was she not going to show today? Why not? There weren't any other beasts from the past to capture her…

Her smile returned full force when Neo rippled into view and sat down. "Blake and Weiss want me to pass on their 'thank you's for your help with Creature."

'You guys took care of me and didn't arrest me. It's the least I could do.' Neo wrote back. Reaper had a feeling Neo would have helped regardless.

The two shared a silent, yet happy lunch. There was a certain unease from the shorter girl. A subject she didn't broach until near the end of the lunch hour. Reaper looked up to see Neo writing in her notebook and waited patiently for whatever she had to say.

'I found where they're keeping Roman. I have a plan, if you want to help.' It said.

Reaper's face fell. She looked back to Neo with a sad smile. "I'm staying here, Neo… but you already knew that, didn't you…?" Neo's eyes fell and she nodded. "If you want to go get him, I won't stop you. Just… don't tell me anything about that life. Plausible deniability, you know…" Neo nodded and started gathering her things to leave. Reaper wondered if she would ever see the girl again.

 _ **You're letting her get away.**_

 _For once, please, be quiet when I ask you too._

 _ **Velvet I can understand, but Neo? Come on, girl.**_

 _I can't rejoin her in that life._

 _ **You may not have to.**_

 _She would never go for that…_

 _ **You won't know until you try. She still asked about Roman, right?**_

Neo set her hand on the table to steady her as she stood to leave.

"Wait." She felt Reaper's hand come down on top of it. The multi-colored girl turned back to one of the few people she ever called friend.

"Look," Reaper looked unsure of what she was about to say, but barreled through regardless. "Ozpin… he's a good guy. He believes in second chances. He gave me mine. I think, if we go ask him together, he'll give you one too. You would probably have to turn yourself in, go into Rehabilitative Custody…" The scythe girl trailed off, looking up at her friend.

Neo couldn't believe was Reaper was asking of her. She had already answered this question herself before, the possible choice between Roman and Reaper. But back then, she thought, at most, it would be a choice between two criminal groups… not between the life she had always known and becoming a huntress… Could she do that?

Reaper stood and walked around the table, keeping ahold of Neo's hand. She looked her friend in the eyes as she spoke. "I know you probably won't enjoy it like I do. I know you probably won't find it… as fulfilling as the criminal life. But please, give it a chance. Stay here. At Beacon. With me."

Multi-colored eyes grew wide. _With me_. Two words, insignificant on their own, but could possibly breathe a whole new meaning into what Reaper was asking. Neo's answer hinged on the question of what exactly Reaper meant. Did she just want her friend, or did she want Neo by her side? Reaper saw and understood the question within her small friend's eyes. She answered the only way someone in her position and mindset should.

Reaper left arm wrapped around Neo. Her right hand came behind the illusionists head, supporting it. She drew the girl close, and their lips came together.

They had kissed plenty of times, during their occasional nocturnal activities. But this was different. There wasn't the heat, the hunger, the lust that usually accompanied their 'joinings'. There was a different kind of passion, the kind Neo had been hunting for months now in her black clad friend. Neo melted into the girl. This was it. She was asking Neo to be _with_ her, and Neo was willing to give herself eagerly. The kiss finally broke, and not even if Creature burst from the bushes, could the smiles possibly be wiped from their faces.

Reaper took Neo's hand and led the girl to Ozpin's office. The nerves Neo felt from this sudden change in plans were beaten back by her heart being on cloud nine. Neo was really going to give up her criminal life, try and become a huntress. But whatever troubles they faced along the way, her and Reaper would face them together. Truly, finally, together.

* * *

 **Finally at the end... but it feels rather open, doesn't it? The reason I want to end Black Reaper is simply because it's too time consuming. Putting out an entire act week after week is pretty demanding on that precious commodity, and I really need to try and get my life on track. Also, I'm kinda out of plot ideas at the moment. That being said, just because 'Black Reaper' is over, it doesn't mean I'm done with this little world of mine. I highly enjoyed writing these characters like this, and would not be opposed to doing a sequel and/or spinoff in the future. So as always, I welcome feedback and follow if you aren't already, because if I do decide to continue this tale, the first thing I'm doing is placing an announcement on the back of Black Reaper.**

 **P.S. Since I told you guys I would tell you more on you guys being the reason Neo stuck around (and i just figured it would be cool for you to know) here it is. The original plan for Black Reaper had Ruby returning as 'Ruby' and getting back with Velvet, with everything that happened sexually with Neo causing friction in their relationship. But then I started getting reviews with people excited for Ruby and Neo being together. By the time I released act 2 and started working on act 3, I knew I was going to end with 'Reaper' and Neo, and Reaper asking her to stay at Beacon. All because of you guys. And I honestly feel its the better story, so thank you for helping my story evolve in this way.**

 **See you around!**


	36. Epilogue

Epilogue  
What The Future Holds

Ozpin was clicking away at the computer in his desk, updating various files and doing general headmaster work. He frowned, looking over the file for team RWBY. They had been through a lot, but he couldn't allow them to continue operating with only three members over the standard four. His biggest problem? He couldn't find an applicant who he both felt confident adding onto the team and believed could handle being on a team with a convicted criminal on it.

"Headmaster." His intercom buzzed. "Reaper wishes to speak to you.".

Ozpin looked over the monitor of the waiting room. He saw Reaper waiting patiently. _What is this about?_ He frowned and hit the intercom button. "Send her up."

A few minutes passed before Reaper was stepping out of the elevator. Ozpin's aura alerted him of another presence in the room. He immediately guessed what it could be, and almost smiled. _Could it really be this simple? Have I found the problem to my dilemma?_

"Hello, Professor." Reaper greeted.

"Good evening, Reaper. How are you today?" he asked in reply.

"Good." She smiled wide, remembering the interaction between her and Neo at their table just a few moments ago. "Very good."

"So I see. And what has you so giddy?" Ozpin continued to feign ignorance.

"Well… it kind of leads into what I want to ask you about." Reaper admitted.

"Which is?" Ozpin asked, letting his smile slip. A little too much, it would turn out.

 _ **He totally knows what's up.**_

 _Shut up. No way._

 _ **Don't tell me you don't think he could sense Neo?**_

 _Well…_

 _ **Jesus, I really feel I'm connected to an idiot sometimes.**_

 _Hey! Technically you are me. We can't be any smarter or dumber than each other._

 _ **You really like to put that to the test though, huh?**_

 _Shut up!_

 _ **I love you too!**_

"Reaper!" Ozpin called the scythe master's attention. Her eyes snapped back to meet his again. "Is Ember still giving you trouble?"

"Is the sky blue?" Reaper answered.

 _ **Oh shut up.**_

 _I love you too!_

"Well, if I could have your undivided attention long enough to clear this matter?" Ozpin asked.

"Right." Reaper refocused. "So, remember that whole rehab custody thing I'm on?"

"Well, I do believe I invented it, regardless of how quickly it seems to have spread." Ozpin answered with a chuckle.

"Right… Well, I found another candidate for it." Reaper told him nervously. "Come on, Neo."

Neo shimmered into existence beside Reaper, with an extremely nervous look on her face. Her high from kissing Reaper was starting to wear out, and she was starting to realize how nerve racking this was going to be.

Ozpin smiled at the multi-colored girl. "Hello, Neopolitan. It's good to finally truly meet you."

Reaper noted the lack of surprise, or any real reaction, at Neo's appearance.

 _ **Told you he knew…**_

Ozpin looked to Reaper. "I am sorry to have to ask this, but how can I be sure this is genuine?"

Reaper's face fell. "You… don't trust it? After all that's happened?"

" _I_ do." Ozpin assured. "But now that Rehabilitative Custody it becoming popular amongst the schools, regulations are quickly being put in place. Included is, I have to convince the Valen Council of any potential candidates I find."

"Well…" Reaper racked her brain for an answer. "After all I've done recently, capturing Creature and Dr. Stein and the like, my name should have earned some brownie points by now?"

Ozpin leaned a little closer, intrigued to hear what Reaper came up with. "Perhaps, with my own name riding on the back yours, I may find a little leeway…"

"Look, if I've earned even a little trust, then don't bother convincing them to trust her. Convince them to trust that _I_ know where her loyalties lie." Reaper looked to her small friend as she spoke, ensuring she was saying the right thing. Neo smiled and nodded. Reaper looked back to Ozpin. "She may not be loyal to Beacon, or even being a huntress in general. But she's loyal to me, and as long as I'm taking this path, she will too."

Ozpin looked between the two girls, the connections being made in his mind. "So," he asked as a formality at this point, "what can you do to convince anyone of that?"

Reaper looked to Neo, who nodded and stepped close. Reaper draped her arm over the smaller girl, who buried herself into Reaper's side as much as possible. It was amazingly comforting there…

"Like I said, she's loyal to me." Reaper told Ozpin, looking him in the eye.

"I see." Ozpin smiled. "Well, we have a few things to flesh out, but I do believe I can work with this."

Neo was amazed. She almost couldn't believe it was working out, now that she was _in_ the headmaster's office. She smiled large. She was going to be a huntress. A huntress by Reaper's side.

* * *

Weiss was tapping her foot all the way up the elevator to Ozpin's office. Her and Blake were about to enjoy a lovely movie in town when she got called to come up to see the headmaster. Apparently, Reaper was already in the office, and that told the heiress that this can only be bad news.

"I'm sure it's okay." Blake assured her girlfriend for the umpteenth time. "Reaper just busted a major bad guy. She's doing good, we've been working with her for almost a month now. I don't think she's going to mess this up."

"It doesn't mean she didn't do something else to get in trouble." Weiss rebutted. "'Reaper' isn't Ruby, she's made that perfectly clear. She's not all sweet and innocent. She probably got in a fight or something."

Blake could only frown at that point as the door opened. The two girls stepped foot into the spacious office to see the headmaster with Reaper. Weiss scowled as she stared down Reaper, failing to note how Blake's ears went alert. The faunus sensed something, something familiar.

"Ms. Schnee, Ms. Belladonna." Ozpin opened. "You can drop the look, this is a friendly visit. It seems we have a proposition."

Weiss traded her frustration for confusion. "Proposition? What kind?"

Reaper raised an eyebrow and looked to her sides. Then, with a large sigh, she finally spoke up. "It's okay. Come out." Nothing happened. "Don't be a scaredy cat."

Neo shimmered into existence beside Reaper, sticking her tongue out at the dark woman.

"Got you to appear, though, huh?" Reaper smirked. Neo only frowned, turning away from Reaper to look at Weiss.

"What is she doing here!?" Weiss asked loudly before Blake could stop her.

"The proposition," Ozpin repeated, "comes from our little friend. She's turning herself in to me, in return for being placed on Rehabilitative Custody with Reaper, and I'm inclined to grant her request."

"You cannot be serious." Weiss stood shocked.

"Not to be mean to Neopolitan, but I don't see why you're allowing this either." Blake spoke next, much to Neo's dismay.

"It is against Beacon policy for a graduating team to have less than four members." Ozpin explained. "In fact, the only reason teams are allowed to function at all with less is to cover the transitional periods. Team RWBY has been at the center of a few tragedies and upsets, and certain allowances were made outside of the norm.

"First, when Yang died, we decided to give you time to grieve before pushing the issue. Then Ruby ran away and that complicated things more. Reaper's return under false pretenses at the beginning of this year didn't help things at all. The point is, Team RWBY has been allowed to operate with as little as two members. If you wish to graduate, that must end."

Weiss looked to Neo. As the heiress began to comprehend what was about to happen, Reaper noted the turmoil in her eyes.

Ozpin continued unimpeded. "Just as I was contemplating how to solve things, Reaper arrived with Neopolitan in tow, asking for a second chance for her. Neopolitan, who you have worked with before. Neopolitan, who now wishes to be a huntress."

"How can we trust that? Trust her?" Weiss asked.

"Do you trust me?" Reaper cut in.

Weiss was momentarily at a loss for words. "Well… I… _sigh…_ Yes, I do. Mostly."

"Good enough." Reaper nodded. "Then trust that I know where Neo's loyalties lie."

Weiss and Blake looked between the two with confusion. Until they noticed how tightly Reaper's arm lay over Neo's shoulders protectively, and Neo's own strong grip on Reaper in return. Blake gave a small smile while Weiss only gave an exhausted sigh. "Well, it's not like we didn't see that coming a mile away."

"Has Neo ever gone through formal schooling?" Blake asked. Seeing the connection between Reaper and Neo was enough for her to trust Neo's intentions.

"No, however…" Ozpin looked to Neo. "If you can study for and pass the same test I am building for Reaper, then there is nothing anyone could say about me moving you right to year three."

"How long would she have?" Weiss asked. Now that she couldn't stop it from happening, she figured she might as well help.

"The semester break. That is when you two will take the test. I wish you both luck." Ozpin informed them.

Neo looked worried. She never studied a day in her life, unless you counted heist plans and blueprints. But actual schooling? What would happen if she failed?

"Hey," Reaper got Neo's attention with an elbow, "You'll do fine. I'll be right there with you."

Neo smiled. This was more proof that Reaper's words, her kiss, was genuine. Reaper wanted Neo with her, and Neo wanted nothing less.

Ozpin turned to his paper work and mused to himself about the situation as a whole. It had certainly been an interesting year for team RWBY. _I will have to change their name…_ Ozpin realized. _No more Y, and the R isn't really the same R… But to what? No matter what I settle on, I think this is only the beginning for them, this new team…_

* * *

 **Team WBRN: Black Reaper ll - Act 1 coming, when it's ready**


	37. BR2 News Update

**Hey There! it's admittedly taking longer than i though to write Act 1. Sorry, i gotta keep you waiting just a little longer. i appreciate you being so patient, and if it takes a while, it means i'd rather release something of quality over rushing it. I just hope it lives up to all of your expectations.**

 **There are a few things i want to say while i have you here. Most importantly, i want you guys to be aware that i will be running BR2 a little differently. Instead of uploading the entire act at once, im going to release BR2 chapter by chapter, with small breaks between Acts. i have a few reasons for doing this...**

 **Reason the first, I have a ton of stories in mind i would love to get started on writing. However, i can only really work on one story at a time right now, and this gives me an opportunity to at least begin some of those while i'm uploading BR2, and then i'll focus of the next Act in the 'off-season'.**

 **Reason the second, and most important, is i want to get as many readers as possible. I got so much positive feedback on Black Reaper, that i'm sure if i had released it chapter-by-chapter it would have a ton more followers. After all of your guys' support, i have little doubt it could be as big as some of the other popular and more well known AU's. So i kinda want to see if, with BR2, i can get it bigger by having it up for longer and maybe trying a few other things (but we'll discuss those plans later on...)**

 **So things will be a little different and, especially for those of you who followed Black Reaper from early on, slower. but hopefully the finished content will at least be worth it, even if none of my other goals get accomplished.**

 **(I removed the chapter one teaser since the real chapter on will be here soon)**


	38. BR2 News Update - Release date!

**Finally! After spending Wednesday watching Volume 3 in theaters (you may have seen me if you went to the San Jose, CA showing), spending yesterday on a spur of the moment vaycay in San Fransisco, and dealing with a bit of writer's block, i finally finished the last chapter of Act 1 a few moments ago! BR2 is ready for upload, and i will send out the first chapter... tomorrow! so, if you aren't following me or don't have an account, check my page tomorrow for the start of something that i hope will be worth it to all of you! If you haven't already imploded from the premier of Volume 4, of course. (I'M SO EXCITED! I JUST CAN'T HIDE IT!) I considered not uploading on RWBY day, but you guys have already waiting longer than i intended for this fic, and i doubt i will be the only one uploading tomorrow. I won't talk about the show here, promise! I hope you guys enjoy.**


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